According to Abu Ali Express, Israel has issued ten thousand work permits in construction to PA Arabs. The permits are time-limited, from 5 AM to 5 PM, and will allow workers from the Palestinian Authority into Israel starting January 6, 2024.
The Israeli contractor who employs them will guarantee to collect and return them to and from the checkpoint.
Since the start of the war, the crossings between the Palestinian Authority and Green Line Israel have been closed and tens of thousands of Arab workers from Judea and Samaria have not been allowed to enter Israel. The security establishment, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wants to increase the number of entries under proper supervision, but the police and a decisive majority of cabinet ministers oppose the move.
Tal Basachs, who was appointed in late October as the civilian control center czar for the duration of the war, has been working on a formula for the gradual return of PA Arab workers, mainly to the construction and agricultural sectors. At least 90 thousand PA Arabs were employed in construction alone in Israel, and since October 7, with the suspension of all work permits for PA residents, the construction industry has been paralyzed.
Last week, Ynet reported that the IDF Civil Administration has ignored the cabinet’s position, and issued some 10,000 permits to PA residents in Judea and Samaria to work in the industrial areas of Barkan, Mishor Adumim, and Ariel.
The decision followed heavy pressure from factory owners and businessmen, some of whom live in the settlements, who claimed that they were suffering severe economic losses. The process was done in the tradition of the frog in the gradually boiling water: in the first two weeks of the war, the entry of PA laborers was prohibited altogether; after that the rate of their entry rose to 20%, later to 50%, and about a month ago it was decided to let 100% of the workers enter.
Last week, Judith Segaloff reported in The Jewish Press that “Jews in Judea and Samaria Oppose Return of PA Workers.”
