Two settlements in the Pitach Raffah region agreed yesterday to terminate their employment of Arab hired labor by next March or April. The agreement was reached between the representatives of Netiv Haasara and Sadot settlements and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan who has insisted that the security zone between Sinai and the Gaza Strip be inhabited solely by Jews.
Dayan has said that he did not want Arabs, mainly Bedouins, who were evacuated from the Raffah’ salient for security reasons to return there in the guise of hired hands. The main idea of the Raffah salient is to create a security buffer zone between Sinai and Gaza, he said.
The agreement was reached after the Jewish Agency’s settlement department promised to alter the pattern of settlement labor so that there will be no need for outside hired help. Yesterday’s announcement spoke of hired labor in general terms but the reference was understood to refer to Arab labor. There will be a transition period during which a limited number of permits will be issued for the employment of hired labor until the end of the current crop season.
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