Following the release of a report by the Hotline for Immigrant Workers, Interior Minister Eli Yishai finds himself having to defend his actions, cited as the minister who issued the most permits for foreign workers to enter Israel.

Yishai is also leading the battle to expel their children, insisting permitting the children to remain and integrate into society will lead to increased assimilation, making controversy statements in reference to the foreigners that they bring an increase in AIDS and drugs. Yishai is an outspoken opponent of permitting the children born to the foreign workers to remain, insisting they must be expelled back to their countries of origin.

The report cites that when he served as minister of industry & trade, the largest number of foreigners entered the country, over 500,000. The report states in 2008, 118,000 work permits were granted by Shas ministers, an unprecedented number. The figures are based on the organization tracking the past decade.

The report explains that during the years that a Shas official controlled the permits, the numbers increased, citing that when Ehud Olmert held the industry & trade portfolio from 2003-2005, the number of permits declined. Organization representative Shevy Korzen released the figures at a press conference on Monday.

An estimated 45% of foreign workers in Israel today are illegal, representing a decline, due primarily to increased police enforcement & expulsion and an increase in the number of permits granted.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)