'Not aware of specific requests, numbers': MEA on reports of Israel seeking 1,00,000 construction workers

Amid reports that Israel wants to hire 1,00,000 Indian construction workers to replace Palestinian workers who lost their work permits after the Hamas attack in Israel and the ensuing conflict, the external affairs ministry has come out with a clarification saying the government is not aware of the specific requests are numbers that are floating.

Vice president of the Israel Builders Association, Haim Feiglin has been quoted as saying that negotiations in this regard are ongoing. "We are waiting for the decision of the Israeli government to approve that. And, we hope to engage 50,000 to 1,00,000 workers from India to be able to run the whole sector and bring it back to normal," he had said.

We have been working towards giving our citizens access to a global workplace, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, adding, "We are in discussion to try and get into mobility agreements with a number of countries."

"In Israel, already a number of workers are employed there, especially in the caregiver sector... We have been discussing a bilateral framework in the construction and caregiver sectors. But this is a long-term initiative, I'm not as I said aware of the specific requests are numbers that are floating," Mint quoted Bagchi as saying.