Facing dire labor shortage, Israel recruits migrant workers from India

In villages and towns across India, Israel is recruiting — not for its war in Gaza, but for its own economy.

In villages and towns across India, Israel is recruiting — not for its war in Gaza, but for its own economy.

Tens of thousands of workers are filling job centers across the country, spotting opportunity in the acute labor shortage created by Israel’s war with Hamas. But Indian trade unions have called on the government to terminate the labor agreement, arguing that it supports Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip critics say amount to genocide, allegations that Israel strongly denies. 

Applicants are drawn by the chance to earn far higher wages than they could at home, even if it means working in a war zone.

For Srinivas Kundan, it’s a chance for his teenage sons to receive the college education he never could. The construction jobs he’s applying for pay almost $20,000 annually, including accommodation, more than six times the average annual wage in India and double what Kundan said he earned in Abu Dhabi, where he worked for six years as a security guard.

“The salary is really good, so I am trying,” Kundan, 38, said in a phone interview from the southern Indian state of Telangana.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-hamas-india-labor-shortage-migrant-workers-rcna135603

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