Israel to welcome more Indian workers amid burgeoning Indian-Israeli ties

Israel’s construction sector is expected to welcome thousands of Indian workers in the coming weeks in an effort by the Israeli government to address the labor shortage amid the ongoing war between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel.

The Israeli construction sector relies mostly on Palestinians from Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank. However, due to heightened security threats due to a growing number of terrorist attacks against Israelis emanating from the West Bank, Jerusalem has decided to find an international solution to its labor shortage. 

The influx of Indian workers to Israel is also a function of strong and growing diplomatic and economic relations between India and Israel.

In 2023, the Asian giant India officially surpassed China as the world’s most populous country, numbering over 1.4 billion people. India is one of few countries with almost no history of antisemitism. A small Jewish community has continued to thrive in India both before and after India gained its independence from Great Britain in 1947. 

India and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1992 following the end of the Cold War era. Since then, relations between the two nations have become increasingly warm, especially under the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both leaders were warmly received when they visited each other’s respective countries. 

India has become the Israel’s second most important Asian export market after China. In addition, there is a growing intelligence and military cooperation between Jerusalem and New Delhi. Like Israel, India has faced the threat of Islamist terrorism.

In May 2023, former Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen traveled to India to strengthen Indian-Israeli relations and seek support from India for the expansion of the Abraham Accords peace agreements between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors. 

"This important political visit to India aims to deepen Israel’s strategic partnership with one of the world's greatest powers,” Cohen stated, adding that Jerusalem sought a “tightening of the partnership on security issues and the possibilities of expanding the circle of normalization in the space between India and Israel.” 

India condemned the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis. In addition, India supported Israel at the United Nations by abstaining from voting for a UN resolution aimed at preserving the Hamas terror group.

In recent years, India has emerged as the largest export market for Israeli military technology. In the past decade, India has acquired Israeli military technology amounting to $2.9 billion. This places Israel as the fourth largest military exporter to India after Russia, France and the United States. Israel has become an important player in India’s efforts to diversify and reduce its heavy reliance on military imports from Russia. 

An unnamed Israeli source recently said that the Hamas war has not affected Israeli military exports to India. 

At the G20 Summit in September 2023, the United States and its allies agreed to establish an economic infrastructure corridor where Israel and moderate Arab states serve as a crucial hub connecting India with the European market. 

Netanyahu welcomed the vision of an economic corridor between India and Europe via the Middle East. 

“Our country Israel will be a central junction in this economic corridor, our railways and our ports will open a new gateway from India through the Middle East to Europe, and back,” Netanyahu said.