The Renovation Contractors Association reported this morning on hundreds of inquiries and messages that reached the contractors and the association’s hotline last weekend. Many customers who are afraid of the security situation following the events of the weekend, demanded that the work managers refrain from bringing Palestinian workers into the construction sites – even if they have a work permit.
Eran Siev, chairman of the Renovation Contractors Association, warned: “As a result of the situation, we have received hundreds of calls from customers asking not to allow workers from the Arab sector into their homes.” Unlike previous cases, this time there were also requests to postpone the work, replace the crews, and remove workers of Arab origin who hold an Israeli identity card The chairman of the association told Maariv: “Our workforce currently consists of Westerners who hold a blue identity card as well as Palestinians with work permits. As of this moment, working without the Palestinians and without the Arabs is almost impossible. We woke up this morning with a feeling of uncertainty that harms our livelihood Our most important thing.”
Siv explained that: “If in the past, during times of security crises, we would receive calls from clients regarding their concern about bringing Palestinian workers with work permits into their homes – this time they demanded from us that workers from the sector with Israeli citizenship also not arrive. This is a step up that we have not experienced in a long time and we must remember that for contractors The renovations are an almost impossible task to find alternatives on such short notice.”
“We informed the union that the work will probably stop right now until this wave passes. We have no other alternative and we must find a solution. We are aware of the situation and understand the customers, but no one can give us magic solutions,” Lemaariv explained. “Also the Arab-Israeli workers, these are people who want to bring home a living just like us, without a criminal record, those who pay quite a bit for work permits, get up at four o’clock in the morning, go through the checkpoint and all the necessary security checks. And then, after all that, the customer I do not agree that the laborer will enter his home. The workers experience humiliation even though they did nothing but get up in the morning and take care of the family’s livelihood. And all this only because his neighbors from the village carried out terrorist attacks and the sentence was passed on him.”
Eran Siev, Chairman of the Renovation Contractors Association (Photo: Yanai Ditch)The Association of Renovation Contractors even warns that if the precarious security situation does not improve, this may cause a delay in existing works and the delivery of apartments. Siv concluded: “I wish for the State of Israel that we get out of this situation as quickly as possible, and that we can continue to work as we have been working until now without attacks, with brotherhood and evil. It hurts us very much on a personal level and not only economically. These attacks are a disaster for contractors, for the construction industry and they are a disaster for the country.” .
The association reads: “We encourage the livelihood and not the fighting. We call on the leaders of the two nations to lower the flames, we only want to earn a living and bring the food home. It is not right to continue like this – neither for us nor for them.”
May cause a delay in existing works and delivery of apartments, those photographed have nothing to do with what is said in the article (Photo: Shutterstock)