Unlike the US, Israel lacks unionized crafts. History dictated otherwise; Israel formed suddenly in 1948 when the British pulled out of Palestine. The task of building the new country fell to fewer than 1 million inhabitants, including concentration camp survivors, most of whom had never before picked up a hammer or shovel. By trial and error, they acquired construction skills. But after the 1967 Six-Day War and the capture of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel absorbed more than 1 million Arabs. Willing to work for low wages, they were eagerly grabbed by contractors, leaving few opportunities for Jews in the building trades.
INTIFADA. With few skills and tools, many of these Arabs still transported materials by donkey and knew how to mix concrete only by hand. Construction quality deteriorated and productivity decreased by 2% annually, according to figures from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Eventually, the Palestinians acquired skills. But when the Intifada uprising began in 1987, Israel began closing its borders to Arab workers. Contractors replaced them with foreign workers by the tens of thousands.