Migrant workers in Israel generally followed Home Front Command instructions during the June 2025 war with Iran when they were able to do so, but access to shelters, clear information, and support was uneven, particularly among workers in agriculture, construction, and live-in care, a new report by the Center for International Migration and Integration (CIMI) found.
The report, based on a July 2025 survey of 1,502 migrant workers from seven countries of origin and seven employment sectors, examined physical safety, job security, and workers’ own sense of safety during the 12 Day War.
CIMI is an independent nonprofit established by JDC Israel in 1998. It works on migration policy and migrants’ rights and operates the Foreign Workers Information Center for the Population and Immigration Authority.
At the time of the escalation, the report said, around 150,000 migrant workers were in Israel, largely in construction, agriculture, caregiving, and hospitality – sectors in which many workers rely on employer-provided housing and are tied to a particular employer through their visa status.
The survey found that most workers reported access to a protected area at both home and work, but the figures varied sharply between groups. Among Thai agricultural workers, only 32% said they had full access to a protected space in both settings within the required warning time, while 9% said they had neither.
Data shows respondents generally entered shelter when it was made available
One agricultural worker wrote: “In our community, there is only a trench, no shelters nearby. More shelters need to be built.” Another said an employer kept workers in an open area “even when explosions could be heard.”
The report said that 99.2% of respondents who reported at least partial access to a protected space said they entered it during sirens, suggesting that the main gap was not workers’ willingness to follow instructions but whether the necessary conditions existed to do so.
Live-in caregivers faced a different problem. One respondent said, “I cannot leave the patient even during an alarm. She is 94 and has dementia.”
Overall, 87% of respondents said they received safety instructions during the escalation, although access to clear information differed substantially by country of origin. The report said this suggested that information often traveled through language and community networks rather than consistently through employers or sector-wide mechanisms.
Employment patterns were also divided by sector. Across the sample, 67% said they worked every day during the fighting, 18% worked only part of the time, and 13% stopped working, mostly temporarily. Agriculture, caregiving, and industry showed the highest continuity, with 92% to 97% reporting daily work.
But the report cautioned that continued employment did not necessarily mean workers felt secure. “The work goes on even when there are missiles,” one agricultural worker said. “The employer says, ‘It’s okay.’”
Construction workers reported more interruptions, while hotel workers reported the sharpest disruption. Among respondents who did not work every day, 60% said they had been told not to come in and 33% said their employer had temporarily stopped operating. A hotel worker described the immediate consequence: “The hotel was closed for two weeks. I did not receive pay. No work, no money.”
Report recommends better outreach in the future
The report’s central finding was that workers’ subjective sense of safety was more strongly associated with considering departure from Israel than physical or employment conditions alone. Half of respondents who reported a very low sense of safety said they were considering leaving, compared with 3% among those who reported a very high sense of safety.
Local support appeared to matter. Some 69% of all respondents said they had a person or organization to turn to in an emergency, but the level varied significantly between groups.
Workers who had such a contact reported higher levels of safety, while high concern among family members abroad was associated with lower safety scores.
CIMI recommended moving beyond translated emergency notices toward sector-specific instructions for workers in open fields, temporary housing, construction sites, and caregiving roles. It also called for stronger links between official information channels, employers, community groups, and aid organizations, as well as targeted outreach to groups less connected to existing networks.
The report stressed that its findings are not representative of all migrant workers in Israel. The voluntary survey was distributed online through digital worker groups. Those with limited internet access, those outside such groups, and those who had already left Israel were not included.
It also said that, because the survey measured respondents at one point in time, it could show associations between safety and considering departure, but could not establish that one caused the other.