Miss family, but want to earn enough for them, say first batch of Indian workers in Israel

Last November, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a non-profit set up by the Ministry of Finance for skill development, received a demand for 10,000 construction workers from Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority for four roles — formwork, iron bending, plastering and ceramic tiling. The NSDC has sent around 2,600 workers to Israel from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana so far under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement. At a recent recruitment drive in Telangana, 905 workers were selected to work in Israel.

Over the past two months, the workers say they have acclimated to the ongoing conflict.

A resident of Nirjan village in Haryana’s Jind, Gurdeep’s income supports his family of nine, including his wife Poonam.

Gurdeep is one of the 43 workers from Haryana who are working in Israel. He and some others landed at Tel Aviv airport on April 2 and left for their five-storey accommodation in Jerusalem, around 50 km away. On April 12, New Delhi advised Indians to not travel to Iran and Israel till further notice “in view of the prevailing situation in the region”. On April 14, in retaliation for the attack on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, two weeks earlier, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel.

Alarms, panic and sheltering in basement bunkers

As alarms sounded across Israel, Indian workers say they received a WhatsApp message from the government representative asking them to shelter inside the bunker in their building’s basement. Spotting them looking panicky and running on the streets, a neighbour reiterated the representative’s advice.

Gurdeep told The Indian Express over telephone, “When the alarms rang on April 14, we knew we had no way out since the airspace was closed. However, NSDC officials contacted some of the workers and told them that we would be evacuated within 24 hours in case of a war.”

His colleague Sugriv Sahni, 32, from Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria, says, “We were terrified initially. Once the alarms stopped ringing, we returned to our flats since we had to report to work the next day.”

The next day, “as if nothing happened a day before”, a vehicle arrived to ferry them to the construction site, 8 km away. Sugriv, who lays ceramic tiles, says they are now accustomed to projectiles getting intercepted by the Iron Dome, the Israel air defence system. “It looks like Diwali from afar. We have heard about the Iron Dome. It makes us feel safe,” he says.

Though there are news reports on injuries despite the Iron Dome, the workers say they are more concerned about their financial obligations.

Sugriv, who has three children, says his daughter, 17, aspires to become a doctor. “She got good grades in Class 10 and is studying biology. Though I miss my family, I want to work here to earn enough for them,” he says.

Gurdeep, who has an over five-year contract with his Israel employer, says, “If I work for 12 hours instead of the regular eight-hour shifts daily, I make an extra 52 shekels (Rs 1,100). I managed to save Rs 1 lakh in a month after expenses like rent, transport, mobile phone and WiFi. I have two children to look after. It took a lot for me to come to Israel. I don’t plan on going back any time soon.”

Back in Nirjan village, his wife Poonam, 30, says she became extremely anxious when she heard about the ongoing conflict in Israel. “Though he assured me that he was safe in a bunker in Jerusalem, I was very scared. He would call me at least six times a day just to reassure me,” she says.

Gurdeep, who has studied till Class 12, adds that he has become used to heavy military presence in Jerusalem. “When we pass the checkpoints, they let us go since we are Indians. I have picked up a little Hebrew too.”

Dal and rice shopping in Jerusalem

In Israel for two months now, most workers have fallen into a routine. Sugriv and Gurdeep’s building has three flats on each floor. Sugriv, who shares his flat with three others, says they have an attached washroom but the whole floor has a common kitchen. “The building has all the amenities we need and there’s a market nearby, where dal, rice and atta are available,” Gurdeep says.

The workers usually reach their construction site around 6 am and get an hour’s break for lunch. If their supervisors are unable to convey instructions in English on site, the workers say they use Google to translate their directions into Hindi.

“We have been asked not to use our phones during work hours, so we call home while commuting to and from work. It’s usually 9 pm (Israel time) by the time we get done with cooking and household chores daily,” Gurdeep says, adding that they get free around 2 pm on Fridays and are on leave on Saturdays.

Nearly 100 km away from Jerusalem, Jind resident Basav Ram, 29, arrived in the coastal city of Netanya on May 20 for ceramic tiling and plastering. Netanya is nearly 430 km from Gaza, where Israeli bombing has killed 35,000 people since October 7 last year.

Despite apprehensions, Jind resident Basav Ram was forced to seek employment in Netanya, 430 km from Gaza, due to lack of work back home.

“After the April 14 attack by Iran, I was unsure about working in Israel. So I called some Indian workers who had come here in April and they assured me the situation was safe. Though I did not want to leave my family, I needed a job desperately,” says Basav, who has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Kurukshetra University.

Speaking on the phone from Netanya, he says, “I wrote many exams in India, like the State Selection Commission, Delhi Police, Haryana Police, etc. Though I cleared the interview round in some cases, I failed to get the job.”

With his father’s agricultural income no longer sufficient for their family of six, including two sisters who got married, Basav started working as a mason, but work was erratic.

As he enters a Netanya market to buy groceries for the week ahead, an Arabic song playing loudly in the background, Basav says, “I have heard that Hindi songs are played here. I went to the beach when I first got here. The city is very clean and the crime rate low. Netanya reminds me of Chandigarh.”

To a question on his take on the Gaza war, a reticent Basav says, “I cannot comment on the issue when Israel is providing for my family but I think the situation is similar to the India-Pakistan tussle.”

Though he misses home, he plans on staying in Israel for five years. “If not for unemployment, why would someone leave their family behind willingly?” he says.