Ben Gvir: Freeze move to allow 8,000 Palestinian laborers to work in settlements

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzahi Hanegbi to freeze a decision to allow some 8,000 Palestinian laborers to work in West Bank settlements and Area C of the territory.

Normally, tens of thousands of Palestinians enter Israel every day for work, but the practice was halted due to security concerns since Hamas’s October 7 attacks and the start of the war in Gaza.

Israeli employers in the agricultural and construction sector in the West Bank have asked Israeli authorities to allow Palestinian laborers to be given permits to work in Israeli-controlled parts of the territory due to a manpower shortage

“Allowing Palestinian laborers from the terror-supporting Palestinian Authority into the State of Israel endangers citizens’ lives and opens the door for a repeat of the events of October 7,” says Ben Gvir.

“The blood of the residents of Judea and Samaria is not worth less than that of other Israeli citizens… I request that the entry of these workers be halted immediately, and the security cabinet be convened urgently to discuss the issue.”

The Times of Israel previously reported that 8,000 Palestinian laborers had been given permission to work in the settlements earlier this month.