Israel agreed on Monday to stop allowing the employment of foreign agricultural workers in the “confrontation line” area on the border with Lebanon where several foreign workers have been killed by Hezbollah strikes. That decision comes after four Thai workers were killed working on an apple orchard last week, leading to a demand from Thailand that the practice be stopped.
“Human life comes before all else, and the state of Israel is committed to protecting the lives of its citizens and of the foreign workers,” Interior minister Moshe Arbel told Pannabha Chandraramya, Thailand’s ambassador to Israel.
The Ministry of the Interior released a statement after the meeting stating that the Arbel had reached out to the Ministry of Defense and the Home Front Command’s northern district to ensure that foreign workers do not work in dangerous border areas. “The two sides agreed that they would continue to follow the issue closely, will put into action an informational apparatus for the workers in their language, and the embassy will instruct the workers to avoid work in areas along the border.”
The Foreign Ministry also responded to the letter from Thailand. “Since October 7, the Foreign Ministry has been in regular contact with the Thai Embassy in Israel as to the security of Thai citizens working in Israel,” the ministry wrote. “We express our deep sorrow regarding the murder of Thai citizens and Israeli citizens Hezbollah’s indiscriminate bombings of civilians. We also call for the release of all 101 hostages, Israeli and foreign nationals, including eight citizens of Thailand who were kidnapped from kibbutzim in Israel and are being held by the Hamas terror organization in Gaza.”
On Thursday, civil rights organizations, including the Kav LaOved workers rights organization and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, called on the Ministry of Defense and the Home Front Command to adjust the guidelines regarding agricultural work on the border with Lebanon. “The continued approval for the employment of manual laborers in open areas of municipalities from which the state of Israel has evacuated its citizens exposes those workers to real risk,” the organization wrote. “It’s hard not to get the impression that the Israeli government is choosing to protect the farmers and the contractors (a legitimate goal in itself) at the price of the blood of their workers, who not by coincidence are mainly citizens of countries in the global south.”
The CEO of Global Remit, a company that provides financial services to foreign workers in Israel, called on the IDF spokesperson and the head of the Home Front Command to make information about dangers of the border more accessible, including translating the information into the languages spoken by foreign workers.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.
