Israeli Ambassador Ilan Fluss said Thursday that the country will officially open the hotel sector for Filipino workers.
Envoy said in an interview with reporters that the first batch of the 500 Filipino tourism workers will fly to Israel next week. This is under a labor agreement between the two nations.
“Actually, it is the first time that Israel is opening the hotel industry to foreign labor. The foreign labor is very regulated. For the hotel sector, until now, there were no foreign workers, now it’s opening for Filipinos and Jordan,” he said.
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Around 500 Filipino hotel workers were hired for the initial phase of the total quota for the Philippines at 2,000. Fluss said that the workers are hired directly by the hotels and the two governments only serve as facilitators.
Earlier in a similar agreement signed during the 2018 visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to Jerusalem, the two governments undertook measures for the hiring of Filipino caregivers to Israel. “We have specific sectors that are open for specific nationals. Agriculture is Thai workers. Healthcare used to be only for Filipinos, now it’s open for Moldova, Sri Lanka, and Nepal for old age homes and institutions,” he said.
