"Israel is desperate to replace Palestinian farmhands,"

... Following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli government barred tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers, a critical component of Israel’s agricultural workforce, from entering the country. By early winter, farms were facing a “manpower crisis.”...

But soon after arriving in Israel, Odedara realized that his employers had little intention of honoring his contract. In Ahituv, a farming community in northern Israel, Odedara worked grueling, 11- to 12-hour shifts picking produce; he was forced to work on weekends and was told he would be paid far below the legal hourly minimum wage. Then, at the end of the month, he was not paid at all—Odedara’s boss informed him that his wages had been sent, inexplicably, to his employment agency instead...

... According to Bharat, abuse and illegal labor practices are widespread. “I used to meet all the new people coming in for agriculture. I was talking to them, and everyone has the same problem,” Bharat said. “They have to fight for their salary, for their rights, for their basic requirements. Nobody is helping them. They are helpless.”...

Migrant workers also often hesitate to contact PIBA’s call center for fear of retaliation; employers “are telling [workers] that we will send you back to India if you will not work as we say,” Bharat said. Employers “can’t do that. I know that, but [the workers] don’t. They are new.” (Israeli law allows workers to stay in the country for 90 days to find a new employer if they have been fired.)

The threat of deportation is especially potent because most workers are effectively stranded in Israel for the duration of their five-year contracts, thanks to the outsized fees they paid before departing for Israel...