Israel’s cabinet is preparing to vote on the military’s plan to bring an extra 30, 000 Palestinians to work inside Israel, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday.
The number is staggering, given that the current quota stands at 55, 000 work permits in sovereign Israel and another 25, 000 in the West Bank, according to the Bank of Israel. It is estimated that another 30, 000 Arabs work illegally without entry permits.
According to the Haaretz report, only two terror attacks in the current wave were carried out by Palestinians working in Israel. Around 58, 000 Palestinians have Israeli work visas and about 27, 000 work in industrial zones in West Bank settlements.
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The extra 30, 000 workers would be employed in areas such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture.
The plan, whose main points have already been approved by the inner cabinet, was shown last month to the Israel Defense Forces’ top brass, including Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai.
Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot have both indicated their opposition to collective punishment — e.g. denying work permits en masse in the wake of terror attacks — and have been careful to draw a distinction between terrorists and the rest of the West Bank’s Palestinian population, the majority of whom are not involved in the violence.
Habayit Hayehudi head Naftali Bennett has also voiced his support for such a move, as has Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, which would also be responsible for vetting all Palestinians being given permits to work in Israel.
