Israel farms open lucrative but perilous front

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Until recently, Malayalis were streaming into Israel to work in the health sector as caregivers. But the Israel-Hamas war has opened a new, albeit dangerous, job front – farmland.

While the death of Pat Nibin Maxwell in a missile strike on an orchard in northern Israel has come as a shock to many, the fact is many Malayalis have jumped on the agriculture bandwagon.

The window of opportunity opened for farm hands from Kerala after a majority of the expatriate labourers from Nepal, China, Philippines and Thailand returned to their respective countries because of the uncertainty in Israel.

“Many Keralites have expressed interest in working in the farm sector,” Menahem Pal, a former chief agronomist in Israel, who has roots in North Paravoor in Ernakulam district, tells TNIE. Israel, a world leader in agricultural research and development, operates its farms mostly on cooperative principles. Last February, a 28-member farmer’s delegation from Kerala had visited that country on a five-day state-funded training programme on modern agricultural practices including precision farming and hydroponics. In Israel, there are two types of agricultural settlements — kibbutz, a collective community, and moshav, a farming village where each family maintains its own household and works its own land, while purchasing and marketing are initiated in the cooperative sector. Nibin and those injured in Monday’s Hezbollah missile attack were working in the moshav of Margaliot.

Before the war broke out last October, close to 40,000 farmers from Thailand were employed in Israel, says Menahem.

“Many of the earlier workers returned to their home countries as many among them were killed or held hostage in the attacks. The expatriate workers’ absence left a huge vacuum that caused the farmers huge losses,” he says.

Intervening in the crisis, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with the Government of India. “Several agents have since recruited Malayali youths on a commission of Rs 5 to 6 lakh. Their main responsibilities include plucking fruits and vegetables, packing, milking cows and collecting eggs. They are paid 6000 to 7000 shekels (Rs 1.38 to 1.61 lakh) per month,” Menahem points out. There are others, like Palakkad resident Bobby Mon, who have returned to Kerala, disillusioned by the war. Bobby, who worked as a chef in the southern Israel city of Kiryat Gat and returned home last November, says, “There is a growing trend in Israel to recruit farm hands as they are falling short of labourers. The roles include plucking fruits and vegetables and packing them in trays. In certain farmhouses, there are tissue culture labs where the workers have to help rear saplings.”

The lives of these farm workers and farmers are at risk now as Israel’s celebrated Iron Dome air defence system, designed to counter incoming short-range weapons, does not shoot down missiles fired towards agricultural land.

“This has resulted in a huge number of casualties,” says Bobby Mon.