Toward the end of 2002, Israel boasted some 263,000 unemployed individuals - 10.2 percent of the workforce - and a similar number of foreign workers, most of whom were in the country illegally.

The establishment of the Immigration Police at the time was aimed at deporting large numbers of foreign nationals who were working here without permits, and replacing them at their jobs with out-of-work Israelis.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon defined the deportations as a supreme national interest, and the treasury wrote a check to the tune of NIS 250 million for the establishment of the task force and its 470 soldiers.

Two years have gone by and, according to the Immigration Police's Web site, some 116,000 illegal workers have been "removed" from Israel. More than 40,000 were deported in keeping with court orders, while the remainder left for various other reasons - fear of being arrested; dismissals from workplaces due to an employer's fear of being caught and fined; the recession, which also took its toll on jobs for migrant workers; and fear of missiles from Iraq.

The figure from the Immigration Police also includes the wives and children of workers, such that the actual number of workers who left is around 100,000.

The question that remains is: Has the number of unemployed in Israel fallen by 100,000?

According to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), since September 2002, the number of unemployed has risen to 288,000, or 10.7 percent of the workforce. The treasury forecasts a similar rate for 2005, despite the fact that the Immigration Police has set itself a target of deporting another 50,000 illegal workers.

Kobi Haber, the treasury's budgets director, says the reason for the rise in unemployment despite the deportations stems primarily from a positive development - an increase in the number of Israelis who are joining the workforce and seeking employment.

The level of participation in the workforce in Israel is one of the lowest in the Western world, but it has risen markedly in the last two years - presumably as a result of the cuts to the National Insurance allowances and the tough economic situation.

CBS figures show that the rate of participation in the workforce has risen from 54 percent in 2002 to 55.4 percent at present. In other words, some 35,000 job seekers have joined the unemployment line. Haber notes that another 15,000 individuals who worked in the field of home front security have also joined the ranks of the unemployed.

Natural population growth also sends tens of thousands of people into the job market each year.

Added to all this is the fact that the number of workplaces created by the economy remains low, despite the economic revival.

Benny Pfefferman of the Industry, Trade and Employment Ministry's Personnel Planning Authority says some 80,000 new jobs have to be created each year in order to lower the unemployment rate.

Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced recently that 80,000 new jobs had, indeed, been created; but Pfefferman explains that some 50 percent of these are part-time positions and that some of the people working in them are probably still looking for work to supplement their income and have therefore not been removed from the unemployment statistics.

Pfefferman believes, however, that there is evidence that Israelis have filled some of the jobs vacated by the foreign workers. The CBS figures support his belief. Despite the 15 percent and higher fall-off in building starts over the past two years, the number of Israelis employed in the construction industry has risen from 116,000 to 130,000.

This increase, however, has been unable to meet the demand for labor in the construction industry, and sources at the Manufacturers' Association say that many of the positions vacated by the foreign workers remain empty.