As Israeli forces continued to battle Palestinian militants in areas bordering the Gaza Strip two days after the Hamas invasion that has left at least 700 Israelis dead with about 150 taken hostage, there is concern in India about its expatriate population in Israel.
An estimated 18,000-odd Indians are employed in Israel, and the vast majority of them, perhaps up to 14,000 individuals, are caregivers to the elderly.
Here is a look at these caregivers, who they are, their journey to Israel from India, and their life in the West Asian Jewish nation.
As Western countries age, nursing offers career opportunities for Indians around the world. What makes the job of a caregiver in Israel especially attractive is the pay and other benefits, some of which are not available in other countries.
A caregiver in Israel has a take-home salary of at least Rs 1.25 lakh a month. Food, accommodation, and health care expenses of the caregivers are free. There is extra money for overtime work, and many employees opt to do that. On Sabbath, from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, caregivers are entitled to leave as per government norms.
Normally, a caregiver visa for Israel is issued for a period of four years and three months. The visa can be extended or renewed. When the visa runs out and the caregiver has to leave, they are paid a one-time amount, which depends upon the duration of their work in Israel.
Typically, a caregiver in Israel would have to spend their entire day at the home of the elderly. They have separate facilities in the client’s home. Most caregivers in Israel are required to look after only a single person, whereas their counterparts in other countries have a rather heavy workload.
If the caregiver’s client dies, the caregiver is free to look for a new employer. Even otherwise, they are free to change the employer after a year of employment. Also, a job seeker with a valid visa can fill short-term vacancies created by caregivers going home on annual leave.
Caregivers in Israel are professionally qualified nurses who give home care to the country’s aged and disabled. However, an aspiring Indian caregiver need not be a nursing graduate (BSc Nursing) as is the requirement in several other countries. Even a person who has completed an ANM (Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery) or GNM (General Nursing and Midwifery) course can apply to be a caregiver in Israel.
Caregivers must complete a short-term, mostly one-month, course to learn the basics of Hebrew. While nursing professionals scouting for jobs in other countries have to often clear the tough IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or OET (Occupational English Test), these English-language proficiency tests are not required to be a caregiver in Israel.
The Israeli embassy in India conducts a language proficiency test before the final recruitment. Scores of agencies and institutes offer short-term courses in Hebrew.
The flow of migrants as caregivers to Israel began in the mid-1990s, after the government enacted a law in 1986 under which the aged and disabled were entitled to receive home care, or care that would supplement that provided by family caregivers, who were bound to care for elderly family members.
The process of recruitment of a caregiver starts when an Israeli elderly citizen or his/ her family raises a demand for a caregiver with their local government authorities. Anyone who needs care or support can make the demand. Would-be clients can be indisposed, disabled, someone who has lost their life partner, and requires support in their day-to-day living.
Once the government ratifies the demand for a caregiver, the family/ person concerned approaches the designated agencies, who in turn take the process to India and other countries through recruitment agencies, who are their sub-agents. Apart from Indians, nurses from the Philippines also form a large share of caregivers in Israel.
In India, they mainly belong to Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The caregivers are paid directly by the employers. Almost all Israel citizens are covered by health insurance, which too can pay the salary of the caregiver.
Indian nursing professionals get meagre salaries in Indian hospitals. Many of them are women who, after taking a break from the profession after marriage, find it difficult to get back in with a reasonable salary in Indian hospitals. Also, those with ANM or GNM certificates are not in demand in hospitals in India, especially in Kerala, where there are large numbers of nursing graduates in the job market. A nursing professional seeking to work in Israel may have to spend around Rs 8 lakh on agents at various levels and other expenses, but they are often able to recoup the money after some time.
Shaju PhilipShaju Philip covers Kerala for The Indian Express… read more