Indian workers are thronging for jobs in wartime Israel

Thousands of men queued in India’s northern state of Harayana during a recruitment drive to send workers to Israel, where the offensive in Gaza, now in its fourth month, has caused a shortage of labour.

Masons, painters, electricians, plumbers and some farmers said they are looking for jobs in Israel. Some are willing to risk going into a conflict zone because they could make five times more money in a year than they would at home.

“There is unemployment here [so] people want to leave,” said Lekharam, a mason who was among the workers gathered at a recruitment camp in Rohtak, 66km from the capital, New Delhi.

“If it’s in our destiny to die, then we can die either here or there. My hope is that we will go and do good work and spend some time and come back.”

Officials at Israel’s embassy in New Delhi and in the Indian foreign ministry did not respond to questions about the recruitment campaign.

India, the world’s most populous country with a population of 1.4-billion, has an urban unemployment rate of 6.6%, government data shows, but more than 17% of workers younger than 29 are unemployed and others work as casual labour. Unemployment and underemployment are a critical concern for authorities, despite world-beating economic growth of 7.3%.

Earlier in January, an Israeli financial daily said the country plans to bring in about 70,000 foreign workers from China, India and elsewhere to boost its construction sector, which has come to a standstill since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants.

India’s National Skills Development Corporation canvassed in recent weeks for workers to live and work in Israel.

Recruiters at the camp refused to comment on the drive.

Vivek Sharma, a 28-year-old mason, said he is aware of the risks in Israel from the conflict but is willing to take the risk.

“Yes, I am aware of the conflict, but I can earn a lot of money in a short time,” said Sharma, who estimates he could end up earning more than 1-million Indian rupees ($12,000) by working in Israel for a year.

“It could take me at least five years to earn the same amount of money in India.”

Government data shows that about 13-million Indian nationals work overseas as labourers, professionals, and experts.

Israel and India signed an agreement in 2023 to allow more than 40,000 Indians to work there in the nursing and construction sectors.