Israeli agriculture—once the epicenter of the Zionist pioneering, symbolized by hearty kibbutz farmers and crate loads of Jaffa oranges— has been pushed so far to the margins of society that the work of planting and sowing is now done by almost entirely by foreign workers.
So, when a shortfall of 4,000 guest workers emerged during this year’s harvest – 15% fewer than the quota set by the government — farmers launched a three-day strike this week that threatened to choke off the supplies of tomatoes and milk on Tuesday. Rather than sun-burned sabras, or native-born Israelis, some 22,000 foreign guest workers, mostly from
Growers blame the Interior Ministry for refusing to process the applications filed to get the extra 4,000 foreign workers while the government says farmers failed to file in time. Whoever is right, no one has considered the possibility that Israelis themselves would make up the shortfall even as the nation’s unemployment rate stands at 6.2%. http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=30615 [3]