Ministers okay work permits for 5,000 Palestinians

Israel will allow an additional 5,000 Palestinian laborers to enter Israel from the West Bank in a bid to shore up residential construction efforts, a panel of ministers decided Sunday.

The decision by the so-called socioeconomic cabinet will add to the 32,500 work permits already issued to Palestinians from the West Bank for work in construction, agriculture, industry and the services sectors.

Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel proposed the move as part of a plan to reduce housing costs.

“The entry of 5,000 Palestinian workers in the construction sector in Israel is needed to increase the supply of housing,” Ariel said. “The contractors need this, and we will make sure that they have more working hands for the benefit of the public as a whole.”

Permits are to be approved by the Population, Immigration and Border Authority in coordination with the Housing, Defense, Economy, and Finance ministries.

Israel has been dealing with runaway residential housing prices for the past several years, with developers ramping up projects to meet burgeoning demand.

Ariel noted that the ministry was also acting to bring foreign workers from China and Romania to be a “force multiplier” to increase building starts in a market where demand is expected to surge following the passage of a zero VAT law for buyers.

Most construction in Israel is done by foreign workers or West Bank Palestinians.

The government decision also included an instruction for the Transportation Ministry to increase public transport services in the West Bank and subsidizing existing routes in order to ease the workers’ travel into Israel. The Finance Ministry is to budget NIS 5 million to this end.