The Socioeconomic Cabinet led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) will convene Sunday afternoon to discuss the reintroduction of workers from the Palestinian Authority to Israel. Ministers Smotrich, Gideon Sa'ar, and Itamar Ben-Gvir have clarified over the past days that they are against such a move: "Unfortunately, there are still those who are not conceptualizing this properly. Introducing workers from Judea and Samaria is not functionally different from introducing workers from Gaza, the results of which blew up in our faces on October 7th." Related articles: Construction industry recovering despite labor shortage Five reasons to be depressed about the war New restrictions on Palestinian Arab labor in Judea and Samaria Beit El demonstrates against Arab workers "Those same workers cooperated with Hamas and gave them information. Additionally, their entering Israel means bringing into the country individuals who are exposed to daily incitement in mosques and Arabic media against Israel. We cannot return to the same model from Gaza with the workers from Judea and Samaria - it is a recipe for disaster," Ben-Gvir stated, according to his associates. Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) has also opposed the move: "This issue includes many complications, and requires serious administrative work to consider all the economic and security aspects in their entirety." Arbel also stated that since the war began, he has been working with authorities throughout Israel to promote employment of Arabs with Israeli citizenship, and claims that the decision to bring Arab workers from Judea and some area without significant administrative work is likely to damage his efforts and lead to a negative impact on the market and delays in construction.
