Unemployment pushes Palestinians to work in Israel
Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where jobs are scarce and low-paying, enter Israel to find work, and those who are truly desperate end up building the very settlements they seek to end.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian Mehdi al-Jabari wakes up at 3 a.m. every Sunday to stand in a long line at the Israeli Meitar checkpoint, which separates the West Bank province of Hebron from Israel. This is the only way he can make it to work in Israeli cities to earn a living.
Jabari has been working in construction in Herzliya, Israel, for 11 years with an Israeli work permit that can be renewed every 45 days. He told Al-Monitor by phone, “My commute consists of a three-hour wait at the Israeli checkpoint, where Israeli soldiers pat me and other workers down, or search us using sniffer dogs.”
Jabari is forced to leave his family and stay in Israel for a whole week at a time to avoid the daily hassle at the checkpoint. He returns Friday night to spend Saturday, his one day off, with his family before returning to work.
“Despite the difficult commute, working in Israel is a dream for Palestinian workers because the daily wage in Israel is three times higher than in the West Bank," Jabari said. For example, a daily West Bank wage of 100 shekels ($27), he said, would be 300 shekels ($82) on average in Israel.
