The government Cabinet discussed a proposal Sunday to inject more foreign workers into the hi-tech sector.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his opening remarks that while new sectors of Israel’s population are being trained — including the hareidi-religious and Israeli-Arab populations — the government is still considering permits for foreign workers.
The decision, he said, would “aid in the continued growth of the high-tech sector in Israel. The demand is enormous and the supply of workers is small,” he explained. “We are using various means to increase the supply of trained high-tech workers. We have turned to populations that have not been involved in high-tech until now, such as the ultra-orthodox and of course our Arab citizens.
“We are also trying various means to train our young people, also in mathematics, computer and science studies – this will take time.
“In the meantime, we are interested in assisting the absorption of a limited number of expert workers, who could help in passing the standardized exams in order to ease the absorption of workers with unique know-how.
“The Cabinet will make it possible for their spouses to stay in Israel and work here legally,” he said.
“This is what is being done in the Silicon Valley in the United States, and this is giving them considerable strength and, of course, it doubles employment for the local population in the United States. We will do this here as well,” he said.