the ban on Palestinian workers, a thorny subject in Israel and the West Bank

Since the Jewish state banned the entry of Palestinian workers onto its soil, Israel has lacked workers, particularly in construction. In the occupied territories, money is lacking and anger is growing.

They need them but they are afraid of them. Since October 7, Palestinian workers who partly operated the Israeli economy have no longer had the right to enter the territory of the Jewish state. The knife and car attack on Monday January 15 in Ra’anana, north of Tel Aviv, which left one dead and 17 injured, including two young French people, has reignited the debate. The two terrorists arrested are in fact Palestinians from the Hebron region who entered illegally. In Israel, fear is gaining ground, while sectors such as construction or agriculture lack workers. And in the occupied territories, money is lacking and anger is growing.

The day after the attack, reactions at the highest levels multiplied. “We won’t bring them into city centers! Certainly not!” The vast majority go in the same direction, like that of the far-right minister in charge of colonies, Orit Strook, on army radio. “We do not have a choice, she says. This is the lesson we learned from October 7. You cannot buy peace with money. It does not work. It’s us or them!”

“Most people don’t have anything to eat.”

They are therefore the 20,000 Palestinian workers from Gaza, and the 140,000 from the West Bank who, before October 7, like Nadia, earned their living on the other side of the border. She lives in Béethlem and says she loses 1,000 euros every month because since the closure of crossing point 300, she can no longer work in Jerusalem as a childminder. “Most people don’t have anything to eat. Really. Whoever has gold or something, he sells it to buy food, she says. If it doesn’t reopen, people will be under pressure and it will explode. The situation is bad for both sides.”

Before the Ra’anana attack, the army and internal security services had warned of the risk of a popular explosion in the occupied West Bank if the blockade was maintained for too long. Since the start of the week, these voices have been inaudible.