Dovish Politicians Ask Government to Reduce Hardships in Territories

For the first time since the administered territories were closed off almost a month ago, the left wing of Israel’s ruling coalition has demanded that the government take measures to alleviate the economic plight of Palestinians deprived of jobs in Israel proper.

Ministers from the Meretz bloc said at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting that they continue to support the general ban on Palestinians from the territories entering Israel proper, but proposed that unemployment allowances be paid to those who had lost their means of livelihood.

Tourism Minister Uzi Baram of the Labor Party also backed the demand, arguing along with the Meretz ministers that these Palestinians should be entitled to the unemployment allowances, since they pay insurance like Israelis.

Under the present system, only Israelis get unemployment benefits. The money withheld from Palestinian salaries is largely used to cover general welfare investments made by the military-run administration in the territories.

The general ban has been lifted partially, primarily in order to ease the labor shortage crisis in Israel.

Of the 120,000 Palestinians who used to work daily in Israel proper, about 23,000 have been issued work permits for this week. Only half of those have actually come to work, partly due to mounting pressure by other Palestinians that none should return until the closure is lifted.

Some 4,000 permits were issued to construction workers, but fewer than 2,000 workers appeared on the construction sites.

PALESTINIANS STAGE PROTEST STRIKE

The Building Contractors Association has warned that the entire industry is in danger of collapsing because of the labor crisis caused by the closure. The association has threatened to close down work sites throughout the country.

The contractors want the government to train 20,000 Jewish workers and allow 10,000 foreign workers, from Europe and the Far East, to replace Arab workers temporarily.

Although the government is reluctant to allow in foreign labor while Israeli unemployment remains very high, the authorities were, in fact, expected this week to allow in some foreign workers.

Meanwhile, tension in the territories was high Tuesday, as rejectionist Palestinian groups called a three-day strike to protest the resumption of the Middle East peace talks in Washington. The strike was almost fully observed throughout the territories.

In the West Bank, two Jewish youths barely escaped death Sunday, as the car they were driving was shot at by Israeli soldiers in a misunderstanding.

The youths, Kobi Gur-Arye, 17, and his brother Yisrael, 13, of the settlement of Kochav Hashachar, were driving from the settlement of Ofra, near Ramallah, to the nearby settlement of Beit El. As they passed by an army checkpoint, the two youths thought the soldiers were waving them to pass through, but the soldiers had actually ordered them to stop.

When the soldiers saw the car continuing to drive, they shot at the car, following standing orders. The two brothers were lightly wounded.