India, Israel to stop exploitation by job agencies: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that the issue of exploitation of the Indian caregivers working in Israel has been taken up with Israel.

According to a data released by Israel's interior ministry, there are about 47,000 legal foreign caregivers in Israel and another 12,000 illegal ones. They come mainly from the Philippines, India, Moldova and Sri Lanka. The manpower agencies bring such people to Israel from these countries to work as home nursing aides.

Pavan Kapoor, India's ambassador to Israel, said, "We have about 11,000-12,000 Indian caregivers working in Israel. We have found that they get exploited by the agencies. We are working with the Israeli side to stop this".

The ambassador also clarified that there was no ban on any religious pilgrimage to Israel.

"A large number of Indians who go to Israel is for the purpose of religious pilgrimage, there is no stoppage or ban to any religious pilgrimage", he stated.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has invited Israeli defence companies to work and invest in India.

He also said that India and Israel would strengthen existing pillars of cooperation in areas that touch the lives of peoples in both the countries, which include agriculture, science and technology and security.

The two sides today also signed nine Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in various sectors, including cybersecurity, energy and medicine.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on a six-day visit to India. He will visit Agra, Gujarat and Mumbai during his stay.