By Anadolu staff
ANKARA (AA) – The first batch of Indian construction workers have left for Israel after Tel Aviv banned Palestinian laborers from working there, Indian media reported on Wednesday.
The first batch of 64 workers from northern Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were on their way to Israel, daily The Hindu reported.
Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon also confirmed the development, posting photos of the first batch's farewell gathering in the capital New Delhi.
"Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. This is an outcome of hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA (National Skill Development Corporation of India). I’m sure that the workers become ‘ambassadors’ of the great P2P (people to people) relations between," Gilon stated on X.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last December asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to send 10,000 construction workers as his country was facing labor shortages after Tel Aviv banned thousands of Palestinians from working in the country following the Hamas attacks, according to the report.
Following Netanyahu's request, India launched a massive recruitment drive in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to find people for work in Israel.
New Delhi is expected to send the remaining workers in the coming weeks. However, the safety of Indian workers is a major issue, the report said.
Indian authorities said they received a demand from the government in Tel Aviv for 10,000 construction workers in November last year, and that over 1,500 workers will be sent to Israel this month, despite opposition from the Centre of Indian Trade Union, which had urged the government not to send Indian workers there.
*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid