Israel’s Jobs Program For Palestinians

While the IDF is keeping up its relentless campaign against terrorists in Nablus and Jenin, and has just managed to decapitate the leadership of the Lions’ Den, killing in a single raid all five of its top leaders, the Israeli government continues to provide major economic support to the Palestinians through its greatly-enlarged program of hiring Palestinian workers from both the West Bank and Gaza. More on this effort to help the Palestinians, which receives no attention in the Western media, can be found here.

The second quarter Palestinian labor statistics show that there are 903,000 Palestinians working in the West Bank and Gaza, 182,000 who work in Israel and 29,000 who work in the settlements.

This means that 18.9% of Palestinians are employed directly by Israelis.

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This is, by far, the highest percentage of Palestinians working for Israelis in at least ten years, and possibly since before Oslo. I sampled some previous years: In 2021, the percentage was less than 16%; in 2016, 13%; in 2012, 10.4%.

A total of 211,000 Palestinians now work in Israel and the settlements. They constitute 19% of the total Palestinian workforce, apparently the highest it has ever been. Despite Palestinian propaganda, the Israelis are not trying to make life miserable for the Palestinians but, rather, hope to improve the lot of ordinary Palestinians. To fill jobs in its booming economy, Israel could import more workers from elsewhere – Thailand, the Philippines, sub-Saharan Africa – but it has deliberately chosen to favor Palestinians, despite the obvious security risk.

This doesn’t include Palestinians who are indirectly employed by Israel, for example, those who work for local computer consultants who get most of their work from Israelis.

In addition to those 211,000 direct hires of Palestinians who work in Israel and the settlements, there are many thousands of Palestinians who, while remaining in their homes, work on computer projects for local companies that, in turn, get “most of their work from Israelis.”

If one out of every five Palestinians works for Israelis, that is a significant number of people who will not want a new intifada that would jeopardize their jobs.

And neither would any Palestinian leader, in the West Bank at least. Because the 19% only tells half the story. The average wage for those who work for Israelis is typically more than double that of local Palestinian workers. I estimate that over 35% of all wages to Palestinian workers comes from Israeli employers.

In fact, wages for the Palestinians are often much more than double what they earn at home, from Palestinian employers. In some jobs, the Palestinians receive up to ten times what they would get at home. And they are much better treated by their Israeli employers, too, who have to comply with strict labor laws that do not exist in Gaza or the PA-run parts of the West Bank.

But even if we exclude from our calculations the work done by Palestinians for companies, also Palestinian, that have Israeli clients, at least “35% of all wages to Palestinian workers comes from Israeli employers.”

Given that the Palestinians are paid a minimum at least twice as much, and depending on the job, up to ten times as much, as they receive for the same work from Palestinian employers, it seems reasonable to conclude that not 35%, but at least 50%, of the wages received by Palestinian workers comes from Israeli employers in Israel and the settlements.

A third intifada would destroy the Palestinian economy and anger the 211,000 Palestinians who work – or hope to work – in Israel.

The Palestinians now have a great deal to lose if the current violence in the West Bank continues, and leads to a third intifada. For that would promptly end the program of hiring Palestinians in the West Bank and the settlements; 211,000 Palestinians would lose their jobs, costing the Palestinian economy more than two billion dollars (assuming an average salary of $10,000 a year). .

This is why Israel is trying to expand work permits to Gaza. The same logic applies, and even Hamas would not be eager to upset a labor force that desperately wants to work.

Israel is trying to increase the work permits given to residents in Gaza not only because those workers then become a force opposed to terrorism, but because terrorism would end their highly lucrative employment in Israel. The Israelis actually want the Palestinians in Gaza to have better lives; they do not attribute the blood-curdling aims of Hamas to ordinary Gazans, who themselves suffer from the corrupt despotism imposed on them by Hamas.

The more permits Palestinians receive to work in Israel and the settlements, the more those Palestinians workers will have a stake in keeping a lid on terrorism.

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turtlebrat

1 year ago

Would the palis treat the Israelis the same way – never.

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garry pollack

1 year ago

Reply to  turtlebrat

that is b’cuz they R not shmart…In WW2 Germans treated POW’s “badly…” We sent their guys 2 the mid-west 2 do farm work…word got back how cushy it was there—how many krauts surrendered w/Omaha on their mind!—U don’t have 2 kill ure enemy—just have 2 get him off the battlefield—how many Palis say—gee I’d rather go 2 work 2day than kill an Israeli!

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Joe Lablanc

1 year ago

This comes at some risk to the Israelis. A recent terrorist killer was in Israel legally via a work permit.

In another matter, the billions of dollars that the US and the EU gave to the Palis ended up building terror tunnels and rewarding terrorists and their families for murdering Israelis and of course for graft to Abbas and the Hamas leadership. . If the money were spent as it should have been, the Palis would have today a beautiful infrastructure including their own power generation facilities.

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Snowedin

1 year ago

This will not stop the “palestinian’s from the continued attacks on Israeli’s.

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garry pollack

1 year ago

some peoples tend 2 ideology, others romanticism—we Joos tend 2 pragmatism—what works…

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Alan

1 year ago

Reply to  garry pollack

I mostly agree with you, but call me a snob or whatever, English is a brilliant language and is meant to be spelled out and used as it was made, not corrupted with numbers instead of words etc, the way you type is distracting and takes away from the truth of your message, my two cents, not trying to be a dick, just observing

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garry pollack

1 year ago

Reply to  Alan

ure 2 cents R booring! (oops I used 2 correctlly their!) Lets have a vote (+ or -) but I do appreciate ure input Dick…or wud U preefer Richard!

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garry pollack

1 year ago

Can we wrap our heads around the Fact!—that those Palis in the article pic R also victims! of terrorism… If anyone of those people in any way! criticized the intifada—they wud B DEAD!

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Gwen

1 year ago

They can come to Australia pretend they are aboboriginal and do courses at no price. No need to prove you are indiginous. Easy. I know quite a few people doing this.

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