October 06, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lankan workers seeking construction jobs in Israel through private recruitment agencies will no longer be eligible for such placements from 1 January 2027, under a new directive issued by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority.
The measure will also apply to Indian workers, with companies holding licences to employ overseas labour in Israel’s construction industry being restricted to recruiting from a designated list of countries under the revised system.
The approved countries include the United States, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Italy, Albania, Ecuador, Brazil, Guatemala, Georgia, Hungary, Vietnam, Montenegro, Mexico, Portugal, Thailand, the Philippines, Panama, Kosovo, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.
The authority’s 5 October notification specifically states that private recruitment from Sri Lanka and India will cease from the beginning of 2027, in line with existing bilateral arrangements and the framework governing the employment of foreign workers.
Romanian nationals, meanwhile, will remain eligible for recruitment through the private system, subject to the conditions applicable to foreign workers.
Employers wishing to recruit workers from countries categorised as Tier 1 or Tier 2 in the United States Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons report, but which are not included in the approved list, will have to make a written case to Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority Construction Division.
The authority further said private recruitment from any additional country would be discontinued one month after Israel establishes a bilateral agreement or other formal arrangement with that country for bringing construction workers into Israel. Recruitment would subsequently take place through the new bilateral mechanism.
A Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) official said the bureau was still awaiting a response from the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority concerning the future recruitment of Sri Lankan workers for the construction industry.
The notification was signed by Moshe Nakash, Director of Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority.
