Israel Moves on Arabs in Illegal Jobs : Action Seen as Punishment for Palestinians in Uprising

The Israeli Labor Ministry announced plans today to crack down on 60,000 Palestinians working in the Jewish state illegally and free their jobs for unemployed Israelis.

Some government officials said privately that the purpose was to punish Palestinians for the 17-month-old uprising against Israeli rule.

Criticism came from within the government and from liberal legislators.

Shimon Peres, finance minister and deputy prime minister, told Israel radio that expelling workers would cause economic problems for Palestinians and would inflame the uprising.

“We are pushing them into a corner from which there will be more bitterness and resistance,” he said.

Spokesman Arye Pikel said the Labor Ministry was not trying to throw 45,000 legally employed Arabs from the Israeli-occupied territories out of their jobs.

“We want to end illegal employment of a further 60,000 Arabs working without social benefits or medical protection,” he said. “Since many Arabs would not want the jobs . . . if they became legal and they had to pay taxes, we want the jobs for Israelis.”

Israel’s overall unemployment rate is about 6% and higher among young men completing their mandatory three years of army service.

Large established textile firms and hotels generally declare Arab workers and pay taxes and benefits while employing them. Many small construction firms and farms employ Arab workers illegally to avoid such payments.

To discourage employers from hiring Palestinians illegally, the government has offered to use unemployment benefits to increase the wages of Israelis taking such jobs.

Competition among Palestinians for illegal jobs is fierce because the wages are far higher than in the territories and workers pay no income tax when not declared to the authorities.

The average monthly salary of a Palestinian in an illegal job is more than twice the legal monthly minimum after-tax wage of $445.

Worried businessmen said their industries would suffer unless replacements are found quickly and appealed for permission to hire workers abroad.

A study in 1988 by the West Bank Data Base Project accused Israel of “a deliberate and consistent policy aimed at keeping the territories as a dumping ground for Israeli industrial products and as a pool of cheap labor.”