Israeli trade union calls for general strike on Monday
The head of Israel’s Histadrut labour union has called for a general strike on Monday to pressure the government into reaching a deal to return Israeli captives still held in Gaza.
Arnon Bar-David called on all civilian workers to join the strike and said Ben Gurion airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, would be closed from 8am (05:00 GMT).
“We must stop the abandonment of the hostages… I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken,” said Bar-David in a statement.
“We need to reach a deal, a deal that is more important than anything else. A deal is not progressing due to political considerations and this is unacceptable.”
Who is taking part in Israel’s strike on Monday?
The head of Israel’s biggest labour union has called for a general strike on Monday to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bring back Israeli captives held in Gaza as thousands of protesters take to the streets.
Earlier, Israel recovered the bodies of six captives from a tunnel in southern Gaza, according to the military, prompting fury and grief among Israelis. The call for a one-day general strike was made by Arnon Bar-David, whose Histadrut union represents hundreds of thousands of workers.
Others backing the strike include:
- Israel’s main manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector.
- Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international transport hub, which will be closed from 8am (05:00 GMT).
- Tel Aviv’s municipality, which provides services to the country’s largest economic hub.
- The Manufacturers Association of Israel, which accused the government of failing in its “moral duty” to bring the captives back alive.
- Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who earlier threw his support behind the strike action.
Israeli finance minister warns those who strike won’t be paid
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called on workers to ignore labour union chief Arnon Bar-David’s calls to strike. saying it would “represent the interests of Hamas”, the Times of Israel reports.
Several unions in Israel have called for a general strike on Monday to force the government to agree to a deal that will secure the return of captives held in Gaza. However, Smotrich said anyone who does strike would not be paid.
He added that since the Oslo Accords, “we [Israel] surrendered and fled, gathered behind walls and fences. We asked for artificial peace and tranquility in the present and mortgaged the future for it”.
Now, he said, is the time for a “correction” and to prove to the world there is a “military solution to terrorism, that it can be destroyed with determination and persistence”.
Netanyahu still insists on military solution to Gaza conflict
Some Israeli officials are saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that military pressure is the only way to bring about the release of the captives.
Netanyahu says Hamas killed these captives and that Hamas is not interested in a deal. But Netanyahu, for so long, has had these incredibly hard lines that have caused a lot of tension within his own government.
There’s also pressure now from families of captives. We’ve been seeing it since the beginning of the war. They have said he is neither capable nor willing to make a deal, and that is still their belief that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for personal and political gains.
He maintains that military solutions are the only way to continue this conflict.
Well that's true, stop the 'military solutions' and the conflict can be resolved. Slip of the tongue? Or admission he only wants to continue the conflict.
Israeli minister seeks court approval to halt Monday’s strike
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has asked the country’s attorney general to submit an urgent request to the courts to block a planned nationwide strike that aims to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bring back Israeli captives held in Gaza.
In his letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Smotrich argued a strike had no legal basis since it aimed to improperly influence significant policy decisions of politicians on issues related to “state security”.
He also said a broad strike – which would shut the country including outgoing international flights – has significant economic consequences that would cause unnecessary economic damage in wartime.
The call for a one-day general strike by Arnon Bar-David, whose Histadrut union represents hundreds of thousands of workers, is backed by Israel’s main manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector. The stoppage would begin at 6am (03:00 GMT).
