'I have no alternative': Palestinian teen sneaks into Israel to join 25,000 illegal workers

In the West Bank town of Yatta, a Palestinian family gathers to say goodbye to their oldest son. Amir, 19, is leaving to look for construction work in Israel.

He stuffs some T-shirts into a bag and explains there are few jobs in the West Bank, but in Israel he can earn five times as much.

"I have no alternative. If I don't do this, I will have to wash dishes, like a housewife," he says.

But there's a catch — it's illegal.

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Despite the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, about 80,000 West Bank Palestinians work in Israel, in construction, hospitality and agriculture. About a third of those are illegal workers, according to Israeli Defence Force Brig.-Gen Nitzan Nuriel, a counterterrorism expert.

"All around the world we have illegal workers. It's part of the economy, it's part of the system. The problem in Israel is that there are some connections between illegal workers and terrorism," says Nuriel.

Israel carries out security checks before giving work permits to Palestinians.

Israel's Security Services estimate that since last October, more than 20 attackers have come in from the area around Yatta, where the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, which it says is designed to keep out attackers, has not been completed. The attackers include Khaled and Mahmoud Mohamrah, who shot and killed four people in Tel Aviv in June.

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That's why teenagers like Amir find it hard to get permits and why he's prepared to sneak across illegally. If he finds work, he will  stay for two or three months at a time.

It runs in the family. Amir's father Fares also worked inside Israel when he was young, in construction and as a barman at a Tel Aviv disco.

But that doesn't stop him worrying about his son. "We are extremely worried about his safety, and we are always in contact by phone on his way there and on his way back," says Fares.

Just before sunset, Amir kisses his parents goodbye.

He has been making these trips into Israel for three years.This time, Fares is relieved Amir won't be alone. His cousin Mohammed is going, too. But they haven't used this driver before. 

"Our last driver was arrested by Israel and had his car impounded," says Amir.

The new driver, who doesn't want to be identified, says he checks the bags of everyone he takes.

"Once a Palestinian went to Beersheba in Israel, to the bus station there, and carried out a terror operation. The driver who took him got eight years in jail, so I don't take chances."

To get across they have to get around the Israeli military, and tonight they see many IDF vehicles.

The driver leaves the road and heads into the desert. They see approaching headlights. Luckily for them, the car turns out to be Palestinian.

Turn back or carry on?

The drivers stop to exchange updates, warning each other about the locations of military vehicles. The second driver says he is turning back, but Amir and Mohammed's driver decides to keep going. 

He turns off his lights, and the car bounces across the desert in the dark.

They drive like this for a nerve-racking hour, till they bypass the soldiers, and meet a car coming from Israel to pick up the cousins.

The drop-off is quick. Amir and Mohammed run across the rocky terrain, and their car speeds into the pitch black.

Now their West Bank driver still has to return to Yatta over the same dangerous route. But on a good day he can make more than $2,000 US.

"I am happy to put bread on the table. I work for one month, and then if I'm caught, I can be without work for another month, till I find a new car," says the driver.

'I ran away when the soldiers came'

"Seven days ago, I had my last car confiscated by Israel. I ran away when the soldiers came, but the workers in the car were arrested and the car was burned."

Half an hour later, the driver gets a text to say Amir and Mohammed have made it to Israel.

As for their driver, he reaches Yatta again at 11 p.m. This was his eighth drive of the day, and he still has one to go.  He says that makes about 50 people he's smuggled across today.

And tomorrow at dawn, he starts all over again.

A perilous journey from the West Bank to Israel

8 years ago

Duration 3:16

CBC's Irris Makler looks at the efforts of two young Palestinian men trying to find work in Israel. Most don't have permits, so their journeys are illegal.