In January 2024, the Washington Post reported that Israel is recruiting tens of thousands of Indian workers to address a labour shortage caused by the conflict with Hamas. In October 2023, Israeli construction companies reportedly asked the government to allow them to hire 1,00,000 Indian workers to replace Palestinians whose work licenses were suspended after the Gaza offensive began.

In November 2023, ten prominent trade unions in India called the proposal for Indian laborers to replace the Palestinian workforce “immoral” and “disastrous”. The unions also said that India’s consideration of “exporting” workers shows how it has dehumanized and commodified Indian workers.

Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank are mostly barred from entering Israel, their work permits revoked on security grounds.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a wider context, India has been looking at labour mobility agreements around the world for Indian citizens.

However, India said on Thursday there have been no discussions with the Israeli government on the possibility of Indian workers replacing Palestinian labour, though there is no bar on Indian nationals travelling to Israel to seek employment.

A readout issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday of a phone conversation between Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had said that the two leaders “discussed advancing the arrival of foreign workers from India” to Israel.

Asked about this issue at a regular media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi referred to a response given by the minister of state for external affairs to a similar question in the Rajya Sabha on December 14.

“Let me clarify what we said in Parliament and what we said In Parliament stands,” he said, adding that the minister’s reply had clearly stated that “there have been no discussions with Israel regarding possible replacement of Palestinian labourers with Indian workers”.

Bagchi said Indian nationals can seek employment in foreign countries, including Israel, and there is no contradiction between this and the minister’s response in the Rajya Sabha. “If you’re looking at specific job opportunities, Indian citizens are free to go abroad and take job opportunities. So, I’m not going to comment on the Israeli readout about the conversation,” he said.

He said that in a wider context, India has been looking at labour mobility agreements around the world so that citizens can access the global workplace, are treated fairly and their rights are protected. Indian nationals are not limited to seeking jobs abroad only through government-to-government mechanisms, and a large number of Indians work in several sectors in Israel, especially healthcare and caregivers.

There were about 18,000 Indians in Israel at the time of the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, and only 1,300 or so opted to return home.

In response to another query regarding attacks by Houthi rebels on merchant vessels in the Red Sea, Bagchi said India has been supportive of the free movement of commercial shipping. “That is something we are interested in. We are monitoring the developments there…We are also part of international efforts to ensure free shipping, whether it is piracy or otherwise,” he said.

Bagchi said he was not aware of any invitation for India to join an international force launched by the US to protect ships in the Red Sea. “This is a new initiative and we will have to get back as soon as there is something to convey on that,” he said.