First of all, you need a visa. If you do not have at least grandparents with the necessary entry in their birth records - then traveling as a repatriate is out of the question. However, idle tales about those with the right to return being welcomed in Israel with special privileges and benefits have no basis in reality. The main advantage of this kind of immigration is the right to obtain citizenship (and, accordingly, insurance) and the right to work.
As for resettlement, housing, and various other payments, they are given but with significant caveats. The sum received must be returned if you decide to leave the country within the first three years from the date of entry. No exceptions are made even for short visits to relatives or tourist trips. You will be required to deposit the entire sum received, down to the last agora (the Israeli coin), into the bank that issued your repatriate financial assistance. Moreover, you can obtain an Israeli foreign passport only after a full calendar year of residence in the country. By the way, the very act of applying for a foreign passport is treated as leaving the country. So - pay up.
But these are the concerns of repatriates. Those going to work under contract are in a better position than illegal immigrants. But here too there are certain pitfalls. In no contract will you find a clause stipulating that your employer guarantees you unhindered crossing of Israel's state border. You may be an invaluable specialist, Israeli high-tech may genuinely need your services, and you may have never been charged or even involved, but... Border guards and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have the right to send any arrival back to the country of departure, regardless of contract, invitation, or correctly issued visa. And solely on the basis of lurking suspicions.
And it is not just that you might turn out to be a terrorist. In a young attractive woman, a border guard might easily see a potential worker in the intimate services sector. And a respectable-looking businessman might be taken for a courier for the Russian mafia. No one is obliged to explain the essence of the claims against your appearance or documents. Gently, taking you by the elbow, you will be led into the waiting room and made sure to be put on the nearest flight home.
But even if you have passed through one of the country's gates - Ben-Gurion Airport or Haifa Port - it is not yet a fact that things will work out with your job. Upon arrival, it may well turn out that the vacancy in an air-conditioned office with a multi-thousand salary is already taken. Or it never existed in the first place. But there is something no less suitable. For example, washing cars, caring for the disabled, or doing unskilled construction labor. If you do not want to - that is your business. Just as paying for accommodation and food is also your business. And prices in Israel bite. This country is considered one of the most expensive in the world. At the same time, the level of service, the quality of food products and consumer goods leave much to be desired. Very reminiscent of home, isn't it?
Many people who have used the services of employment agencies in Ukraine often find themselves in this situation: either they agree to the dirtiest and lowest-paid work, or they return home. And since they usually borrow large sums for the trip to earn money - there is nothing to do, they have to retrain as loaders and cleaners.
But this is not the worst case if you entered the country officially, holding some kind of contract in your hands, and your employers arrange insurance and a work permit for you. In Israel, the provisions of the minimum wage legislation are strictly observed, and the concept of delayed wages does not exist. That is, if you work legally. And there is a chance to gradually not only pay off debts, but also to save up a certain sum of money with which you can return home without shame.
Much worse is if you entered the country on a visitor visa, which is valid for a maximum of three months, but more often one month. Without knowing the language and local realities, it is very easy to fall into the tenacious clutches of employment fraudsters who will squeeze money out of you for information about work and for housing. It is worth noting that housing in Israel is an expensive pleasure even for citizens of this state, who sometimes have to spend up to half of their monthly earnings on rent. And as for a person unfamiliar with local prices and without documents allowing legal rent of an apartment, such an individual will certainly be fleeced.
Many foreign workers, having settled a bit in the Promised Land, rent four- and five-room apartments, into which they pack three or four people per room. It is, of course, cheaper, but you are unlikely to get proper rest in such conditions after having worked 10, or even all 16, hours. And a neighbor may have a day off or, say, a drinking binge, and he enjoys loud music or suffers from a hangover.
The optimal option for a guest worker is to find a job with accommodation. The provision of bunks for staff is practiced by many private nursing homes and construction companies. Do not hope for comfortable conditions. Most likely, it will be just a bunk in a small room next to several similar beds. And not necessarily in a proper house. Often Israeli employers use ancient construction trailers as housing for their workers. At one time, about 30 years ago, this ersatz housing for accommodating the flow of repatriates was purchased en masse either in Brazil or Argentina. With corresponding quality of workmanship. However, even the poorest housing in Israel necessarily has a shower room (with water available around the clock) and a working toilet.
Usually workers do not pay for the provided housing. It is implied that a worker living on the owner's premises can be used by the latter for urgent or overtime work. Since payment in Israel is mostly hourly, this circumstance is rather a plus, not an alternative arithmetic sign.
One cannot hope for especially high earnings. Black work implies minimal (or extremely close to it) pay. If you are an illegal, feel free to subtract a third from the generally accepted minimum - that will be your earnings. Besides, the owner may well not pay on time or not pay at all.
Actually, having arrived in Israel as a tourist and having no relatives or friends there who can help you find a job, you can count on luck only a little. Only persistence and the desire to get a job will allow you to achieve the desired result.
How does a person who does not know the language and local geography search for work in Israel? First, it is necessary to concentrate your efforts and attention on the center of the country, which is called Gush Dan and includes the Greater Tel Aviv area and adjacent cities and villages. Vacancies are also abundant in the Haifa area, because any port is always a zone of increased economic activity. The entire area where it is most likely to find work is along the Mediterranean coast. Also Jerusalem. But the south and north of the country are not the best places for guest workers. This is especially true of Tiberias and Eilat, famous tourist centers. Jobs in the tourist infrastructure exist, but they are strictly seasonal. With the onset of cold weather, life in resort towns freezes. And numerous temporarily hired dishwashers, waiters and maids in hotels are mercilessly fired. Only to be welcomed with open arms at the start of the next tourist season. Since one needs to earn money all the time, not three or four months a year, the choice is limited to the already mentioned Gush Dan. However, not every native Israeli can stand the Eilat heat or the pressure variations in the area of the Sea of Galilee, where Tiberias is located (about half a kilometer below sea level).
So, the search location has been chosen. Next, you should not rely on employment agencies, especially those that advertise in Russian and whose staff are entirely Russian-speaking. In that case, being ripped off is practically guaranteed. At first, they will offer you jobs, each time for a fee from $50 to $100 in shekel equivalent. And upon arriving at the vacancy location, it will turn out that it was just filled, literally two hours ago. And what a pity. That is in the best case. In the worst case, they will look at you with bewilderment and see you off with a sympathetic glance and accompanying curses. This will repeat several times. Then you will change agencies, and everything will happen according to the same scenario.
There is no point in going to Hebrew-speaking agencies. First, the language problem: you are unlikely to be able to clearly explain not only your desire to find a job, but also to come up with a reason for the lack of a work permit.
All that remains is to walk around the area you like. Many private factories, printing houses, workshops and nursing homes will gladly take you on. To do this, you need to remember a few words. Ba'al habayit - 'owner', menael - 'supervisor, director, senior manager', avoda - 'work', mechapes - 'I am looking for' (if a woman says it, then mechapeset). Ani - 'I', mezuman - 'cash'. Thus, without any frills, the phrase is formed: 'Ani mechapes et avoda' - 'I am looking for work'. The particle 'et' always accompanies a noun in the accusative case. Stress in Hebrew, with rare exceptions, falls on the last syllable.
If you are not lazy and purchase a Hebrew self-study guide a few months before your planned departure for work, then by the time you arrive in the Promised Land you will be able to somehow explain yourself to the natives. Hebrew is an easy language if you do not set yourself the task of expressing yourself in the literary, so-called high Hebrew. Three dozen verbs and two or three times as many nouns will be quite enough for you not only to find a job, but also to make necessary purchases in a store. And to live there for years and pass for one of your own.
Israelis are quite tolerant of speech errors, know how to listen, will correct you themselves and repeat several times how to say it properly. After all, most of them arrived in Israel about 30 years ago just as tongue-tied. And, by the way, they looked for work in exactly the same way. One of my acquaintances found a job as a dishwasher in a very expensive hotel and, surprisingly, decent pay, knowing only one word - 'avoda'. And that was only because in the Soviet Union he was interested in politics (avoda is the abbreviated name of the Israeli Labor Party, which is also sometimes called the Party of Labor).
While searching for a job and endlessly beating the dusty and hot thresholds, do not despair. God willing, you will be lucky on the 30th try. That would be quite good. Remember that despite all the drawbacks, you have an undeniable advantage. The fact is that native Israelis are very reluctant to take on menial jobs. They prefer, using the local legislation, to work for a year and then rest for a year, living on unemployment benefits. After finishing school, Jews get some kind of qualification, however meager, and they will not load vegetables or wash a disabled person who has soiled himself in the shower. During times of abatement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many Palestinians rush to the territory of the Israeli state in order to earn money. But as soon as another escalation or terrorist attack happens, Arabs are blown away from the Jewish territory like by the wind. For they judge by themselves and are very afraid of falling victims to Israelis' revenge for relatives torn apart by explosions. And you are a European, you will not run away anywhere. And you will attract less attention from the police in case it visits the enterprise. Of course, after you have tanned enough and acquired the nonchalance in gait and behavior characteristic of Israelis.
However, having found a job and more or less settled in, do not rush to enjoy life. You still have to wait for the first salary. Keep in mind that some unscrupulous employers may drag you through a month of backbreaking labor and then say that you are not suitable for them - and that's it. You won't get the truth anyway, because an illegal won't run to complain to the police. However, most Israelis who use illegal labor do not do this. Israel is a small country, and a bad reputation about such an employer will spread quickly. And the benefit from an illegal worker is quite tangible. There is no need to pay insurance, sick leave, vacation pay, or deduct taxes for him.
A separate issue is the intensity of work. You have to work a lot and hard. For every shekel paid, your employer will make you sweat considerably. In the first months you will be exhausted and your only desire will be to get enough sleep. Later, the number of duties will not decrease, but you will get used to it. It is not recommended to argue with the employer about the excessive number of duties placed on you. In that case, you can say goodbye to the job. Unless, of course, you are an exclusive specialist in car washing, vegetable loading, or care for the elderly.
Care work is a completely separate branch of Israel's economy. Exactly so - a branch, since it employs a significant number of medical workers and all kinds of support staff. The average life expectancy in the country is very high, and seriously ill elderly people are not usually kept at home. Moreover, this is often impossible - to live decently, all adult family members must work. Therefore, grandmothers and grandfathers are sent to nearby nursing homes, the upkeep of which is partially paid for by the state. And they are sure to be visited by the entire large family at least once a week.
Many illegals have to work in such institutions and with such a contingent. The plus here is that many residents of nursing homes, at the first signs of senile dementia, first of all forget Hebrew. Only the language absorbed with mother's milk remains. And it turns out that the first word that Moshe or Chaim once uttered was the Russian "mama", and he himself was born somewhere in Kiev or Zhitomir. And your Russian-speaking ability can serve you well.
It is also interesting that in recent years Israel has begun to take a differentiated approach to selecting personnel from illegals. Preference is given to a person from Ukraine over a similar applicant from Russia or Romania. Ukrainians, in the time since the opening of the Soviet Union's borders for the exodus to the West, have managed to prove themselves as responsible and dependable people. And non-drinking at work or immediately before starting a work shift.
And being in good standing with an Israeli employer is sometimes worth a lot. I know of several cases where employers, interested in their workers, obtained for them a temporary residence permit and the right to work from the Ministry of Interior.
The range of duties assigned to an employee at various enterprises makes no sense to describe - they are different everywhere, just as they are with us. But the question of how to save and transfer earned money to your homeland is extremely relevant. The simplest thing is on the day you receive your salary to go to the nearest Western Union office and arrange a transfer abroad. The downside is the percentage charged by this so widely advertised financial intermediary. The bank will take no less. One alternative could be opening a bank account immediately upon arrival in Israel and requesting an international credit card from it. A citizen of any country can open an account in Israel. There is a limit on amounts related to Israel's accession to international conventions on combating money laundering. But you are unlikely to carry $10-20 thousand with you.
Having a credit card, you can withdraw money in any country in the world. And if you don't bother to find out in advance how to minimize the percentage charged for operations outside the bank's location, then your losses when withdrawing currency at home will be small. Moreover, it is much easier to send a credit card or hand it to your family via a courier.
It is strongly recommended not to keep money in a secret underarm bag. If you are suddenly arrested by the police as someone who has overstayed their time in Israel, you will be taken to a special prison for illegals, where you will wait for forced deportation. Usually, if the deportee cannot pay for the ticket, it is paid for by the state. But if there is money in the aforementioned bag, the ticket will be bought at your expense. They may also deduct for prison food and maintenance.
And another nuance. Even knowing that in Israel you will have to work on a construction site, do not put canvas overalls and work boots in your travel bag. Customs officers at the border will not fail to ask why Mr. Petrenko, entering on a business visa - the marketing director of the corporation "United Kimberlite Pipes of Ukraine" - suddenly brought along work clothes that do not befit his rank and presumed income?