The “Daf Hadash” association, which represents about 160 licensed manpower companies in construction and renovations, has asked Housing and Construction Ministry Director General Yehuda Morgenstern to urgently regulate the private recruitment route, known as B2B, for the renovation sector. The group says the government-to-government route, known as G2G, has failed, and renovation contractors warn that the industry cannot restore damage from missile strikes without better labor supply.
Under the bilateral system, workers are recruited through agreements between governments, and Israeli employers cannot preselect or professionally screen them. By contrast, the private route lets companies and employers identify, examine and recruit workers according to the sector’s needs and required skills.
According to figures submitted to the ministry, more than 20% of the first roughly 1,000 workers who arrived in Israel under the bilateral renovation scheme have already left their employers. In addition, more than 1,000 other workers approved under existing quotas were never recruited by the companies because of poor professional fit and disappointment with the quality of workers who arrived so far. The association says renovation and restoration work needs skilled employees in finishing, repair and maintenance, but the bilateral route has not met those needs.
The group also says a quota for 2,000 private-route workers was approved in 2024, but the allocation process has not been completed even though the companies paid all required fees and guarantees. Daf Hadash is urging the ministry to immediately publish the allocation instructions and activate the private route, which it says would bring experienced workers and ease the labor shortage. Eran Siv, head of the Renovation Contractors Association, said, “The reality on the ground proves that the bilateral route does not meet the needs of the construction and renovation industry.” He added that because more than 20% of workers have fled and over 1,000 were not even recruited, “you cannot ignore the failure.” The ministry replied that it is continually working to increase the supply of workers, saying about 70,000 foreign workers now operate in construction and renovations, including about 1,000 in renovations through the bilateral route, and that it is expanding bilateral agreements and has the tools needed to implement the private route as well.
