Tel Aviv, March 20
Israel's Minister of the Interior, Moshe Arbel, met Tuesday morning in Jerusalem with the Sri Lankan Minister of Labor, Manusha Nanayakkara, to examine the tightening of relations between the two governments in regards to the recruitment of foreign workers from Sri Lanka.
It was agreed that the two governments would work in close cooperation to bring thousands of Sri Lankan workers to Israel to fill a labor shortage in Israel's restaurants, infrastructure projects, construction, agriculture, nursing and other industries.
Israel is suffering from a shortage of labor for such industries because, during the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian workers are not being allowed to enter Israel for security reasons.
The meeting was attended by the CEO of Israel's Population and Immigration Authority, Eyal Siso, the head of the Foreign Workers Administration, Moshe Nakash, the secretary for employment in the private sector, senior officials of the Foreign Workers Administration, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and professional staff from the Sri Lankan government.
Today, there are bilateral agreements between the government of Israel and the government of Sri Lanka, within the framework of which workers come to the nursing, agriculture and construction sectors. (ANI/TPS)