The number of Palestinians living in the West Bank and working in the Israeli economy has doubled over the past four years to 92,000 in 2014, the Bank of Israel reports. This increase includes both workers with and without permits.
The number of jobs in Israel's construction industry filled by Palestinians has doubled in the past two years, accounting for 15.3% of jobs in the sector. This rose accounts for most of the growth in employment in the industry, as the number of posts held by Israeli and foreign workers was virtually unchanged, the Bank of Israel adds.
Together with the significant increase in the number of legal Palestinian workers, the stability and availability of their employment rose as well. "This has contributed to the efficiency in industries employing them, and diminishes one of the advantages that foreign workers held over Palestinian workers in the past decade," the Bank of Israel said.
Estimates are based on labor force surveys of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), and is in line with Israel Tax Authority data on work permit-holding Palestinian workers.
The Bank of Israel continued, "The main increase in employment derived from the increase in the number of workers holding work permitsaccording to the estimate in the PCBS labor force survey, it reached 59,000 in 2014, and increased due to government policy intended to increase the supply of workers in the construction and agriculture industries as well as to assist the Palestinian economy. At the same time, employment of Palestinians without work permits also increased, which indicates that Palestinian demand for employment in Israel is greater than the number of permits, and that there is considerable demand in Israel for Palestinian workers, mainly in the construction industry. The size of Palestinian employment in the Israeli economy is expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 5, 2015
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