Israel's Asian eateries go on spring roll strike - most popular thai restaurant dishes

JERUSALEM (Reuters)-
This is the Asian restaurant in Israel.
The spring roll strike on Tuesday was to protest the government's plan to cancel the kitchen of foreign chefs and said sushi and noodles would be the next item on the menu.
Restaurants are angry at the government's plan to clear the Japanese, Chinese and Thai restaurants of Asian chefs, and replace them with Israelis, as part of a wider program to reduce the number of foreigners working in Jewish countries.
Israel's ethnic restaurant group says 300 Asian restaurants in Israel refuse to serve spring or egg rolls.
One of the most popular dishes
Follow-up was planned on Tuesday
Sushi and noodles are on strike in two weeks.
Arnon Volosky, head of the group, told Reuters: "There are no egg rolls today and there will be no sushi and noodles in two weeks . ".
Israel has barely attracted immigrants from Asia, because people seeking citizenship here must prove that they have Jewish families or have links with the country.
During the first Palestinian uprising, Israel tried to fill the gaps in the labor market, allowing foreigners to work in the Jewish state.
But now it is trying to limit the numbers and create more jobs for Israelis.
This year, the government issued 500 licenses to Asian chefs, compared with 900 last year.
Licenses will not be issued next year, although restaurants willing to pay twice the national average wage will be allowed to hire chefs as "experts ".
The government believes that the Israelis can receive training.
"Everyone can do Chinese food, which is not impossible to learn," said Xiao Shana Strauss, a lawyer at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor who is in charge of foreign workers' issues.
About 30 years ago, Asian restaurants began to introduce Chicken Rice and Thai green curry to Israelis and developed into 1-billion-shekels-a-year ($275 million)industry.
Sushi proved to be a huge blow, especially in the secular coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, where 100 sushi restaurants opened last month.
Wolloski said his organization had asked the Israeli Supreme Court to force the government to reconsider the decision, thinking that it might force many people to go out of business or let them raise their prices, to pay the salary required to obtain an "expert" visa for the chef.