Secretary-General Avshalom Vilan of the Israeli Farmers Association demanded Monday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu order Interior Minister Eli Yishai and other government officials to fulfill an agreement between the government and the farmers to allow 26,000 Thai workers in agriculture. The former Meretz member of Knesset said that Yishai's decision to stop importing Thai workers immediately is a serious violation of that agreement.

Vilan says there are only 22,000 Thai workers in the country and the absence is striking a serious blow to agricultural work. The association has hired an attorney to prepare a petition to the Supreme Court against Yishai's decision, but Vilan says it's better that Netanyahu act and not wait for the court.

Chayim Chadad, who coordinates the Thai workers for the association, says the farmers have invested tens of millions of shekels based on the number of workers that were promised. He adds that the association plans to sue the government over the damage caused by their absence.