Public attitudes toward policies related to labor migrants in Israel

• Exclusionary attitudes toward overseas labor migrants are quite prevalent among Israelis.
• Perception of threats from overseas labor migrants is more prevalent among disadvantaged populations.
• Exclusionary attitudes toward overseas labor migrants are solely mobilized by the socio-economic threat.
• There is moderate consent among Israelis for replacing overseas labor migrants with Palestinian commuters.

This paper focuses on determinants of public attitudes in Israel toward two policy questions. First, should immigration policy measures be more restrictive toward overseas labor migrants? Secondly, should overseas labor migrants be replaced with Palestinian workers? Based on an attitudinal survey administered to a representative sample of the Israeli population, the findings indicate that support for a restrictive immigration policy is quite prevalent among Israelis. However, the survey reveals only moderate consent for replacing overseas labor migrants with Palestinian commuters. Attitudes toward a restrictive immigration policy are explained by the perceived threat posed by overseas labor migrants to social and economic interests. This threat is explained by the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics. Attitudes toward the replacement policy are partially explained by the sense of threat to the Jewish character of the state posed by overseas migrants, but are also attributed to several personal characteristics. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.