There are two ways one could see the issue of foreign workers in Israel: as a dire threat to the Jewish character of the state, or as an inevitable phenomenon of the worldwide movement of economic migrants that needs to be regulated. The two concepts can’t coexist, because the former negates the latter.

Worldwide, there are millions of economic migrants on the move away from their countries, mostly to Europe and America. Tens of millions are leaving Africa for the developed world in search of better conditions. They travel by boat and by land. Sometimes they succeed in smuggling themselves through, and sometimes they are stopped, incarcerated and sent back. Many of them arrive legally, outstay their welcome, and become illegal aliens. Spain, Italy, America, which have absorbed millions of migrant workers, all have policies in place for economic migrants. Israel still doesn’t. Continue reading →