Israel is offering opportunities for thousands of Filipinos to work there as positions in various fields were vacated in the aftermath of Hamas' attack on the Jewish state, its top diplomat in Manila said Wednesday.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Ambassador Ilan Fluss gave assurance that Filipinos willing to work in Israel will be given a smooth employment process.
Although that would still depend on the Philippine government, he added.
Fluss said there are available opportunities in the fields of construction, agriculture and hotel service. Caregivers are also needed.
"We would like this time to have more Filipinos coming to Israel for employment," he said in an interview at his residence.
Thousands of work opportunities became available after Palestinian workers from Gaza were no longer allowed to enter the Jewish state since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
"We used to employ before Oct. 7 20,000 Palestinians," he said.
However, until today, deployment of new Filipino workers in Israel is still on-hold due to two reasons: the Alert Level 2 status imposed by the Philippine government on Israel due to the ongoing war and the concerns still being ironed out by both sides with regards to caregivers.
In June 2023, Fluss already vowed to address such concern and said the Israeli government is already working "internally" to settle the issues.
"The moment we finish the technical discussions, we can start [the resumption of deployment] immediately," he said.
Israel expressed greater interest in Filipino workers due to cultural similarities and historical ties the two countries have.
"There is an opportunity to expand the range of sectors available to Filipino workers," Ester Buzgan, the embassy's deputy chief of mission, said.
"This expansion would be mutually beneficial, as the innovation, technology, and knowledge that returning OFWs bring back to their homeland can foster further growth and development," she added.
Currently, there are about 30,000 Filipino caregivers in Israel, which make up about 40 percent of the total number of caregivers there, Fluss said.