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Jerusalem, June 01, 2023 (PPI-OT): In what growing close cooperation against Islam and Muslims between Zionist Israel and Hindutva-inspired India, Tel Aviv is bringing thousands of workers from New Delhi to replace Palestinian workers, which drew a sharp criticism from a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East stating that “Indian officials have pointed to Israel’s policies as a model for their control of Kashmir”. The Indian workers will arrive in stages, with 2,500 filling jobs in both construction and nursing. The final agreement for labour is being worked out between Israeli and Indian officials.
“We expect the agreements to be approved shortly, and we will soon be able to start setting up the necessary mechanisms to employ skilled labour in a proper and supervised manner,” a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Population and Immigration said. The talks come on the heels of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s visit to India in early May where he signed an agreement with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to bring some 42,000 Indian foreign workers to Israel, with 34,000 earmarked for construction and 8,000 in elder care.
Israeli officials reportedly toured workplace training centres in India in March ahead of the talks. Israel and India have been forging closer ties for years. In January, India’s Adani Group acquired a 70 percent stake in the now privatised Haifa Port, for $1.2bn. The two are also part of US efforts to deepen security and economic cooperation with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Roughly 100,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza work legally in Israel, with the bulk of those jobs in the construction sector. They often face hazardous working conditions and exploitation. Almost half of the West Bank workers are forced to pay around 2,500 shekels ($746) a month to brokers to secure work permits. Palestinian citizens of Israel also face discrimination for their political actions. Like India in Kashmir, Israel regularly uses the issuing of work permits to exert influence and control over the Palestinian economy, experts say.
A London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa while commenting on the development wrote: “Indian officials have pointed to Israel’s policies as a model for their control of Kashmir, where New Delhi has been accused of conducting a mass eviction drive against Muslims to alter the disputed valley’s demographics.”
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