Labor Minister Joseph Almogi said today that the 40,000 Arab workers from the occupied territories presently employed in Israel represented the “optimum number” that can be absorbed by Israel’s labor market and should not be increased. Speaking on the Army radio, Almogi said about 30,000 of the Arab labor force from the territories were union organized while about half of the balance was working in Israel illegally. He said Arab workers received the same wages and social benefits as Jewish labor. He denied that “cheap” Arab labor from the occupied areas has had a harmful effect on the local labor force. According to Almogi, Arab labor is not cheaper, only less skilled.
The Minister did not think that political changes in the event of a peace settlement would have a lasting effect on Israel’s economy, although he conceded that his Ministry was not fully prepared for such an eventuality. “If this should happen, the Israel economy would suffer a bit at first but within two or three months would adapt to the new situation,” he said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
