Nepal has opened the way for sending workers to Israel’s agriculture and home-based caregiving sectors after a Cabinet meeting on Monday approved draft protocols forwarded by the Israeli government.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday endorsed two new protocols—one for employing Nepali agriculture students in Israel’s farming sector and another for placing Nepali workers as home-based caregivers for up to five years.

The government also approved amendments to an existing protocol under which workers are currently sent to Israel’s long-term care centres (Beit Avot).

With Monday’s decision, the signing process for all three protocols can now move ahead.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, recruitment in all three sectors will be conducted exclusively through government mechanisms.

“The drafts of the three protocols sent by Israel have now received full approval from our government,” said ministry spokesperson Pitambar Ghimire. He added that the revised version of the earlier caregiving protocol—covering elderly care in long-term centres—had also been finalised.

The new agriculture-sector protocol allows Nepali students participating in Israel’s ‘Learn and Earn’ programme to work as formal employees in the sector.

The Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu said these students, who currently take part in an 11-month training programme, will now be able to work under labour status in agriculture. So far, around 3,000 Nepali students have taken part in the programme.

“Any worker recruited for agriculture will be eligible to work in Israel’s farming sector—not only students,” Israeli Ambassador to Nepal Shmulik Arie Bass told the Post. “Those coming through the Learn and Earn programme can join, but they are not the only category.”

At present, Nepalis are deployed only as auxiliary workers in hospitals, but now two new avenues have opened: in-home caregiving for elderly and physically disabled persons, and formal agricultural employment for up to five years. However, the hotel and construction sectors remain closed to Nepali workers until further bilateral agreement is reached.

The third protocol opens opportunities for Nepali workers to provide in-home care to elderly and physically disabled persons—an area where Nepalis have been employed since 2007. Although thousands had previously worked in this sector, recruitment was halted after reports of exploitation through private manpower agencies.

Nearly 5,000 Nepalis are currently working in Israel, most of them in long-term care.

Over the past four years, Nepal has only been sending workers to Beit Avot centres. Last year, 2,112 candidates were selected for these placements, of whom around 900 have already departed.

Officials say the new protocols will broaden employment options and restore access to sectors that had been closed for years, while ensuring recruitment remains transparent and state-managed.