(March 30, 2023)
The strike on Monday of Israel‘s largest worker‘s union, the Histadrut Labor Federation, was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s inner circle, a senior member of the coalition confirmed on Thursday.
(March 30, 2023)
The strike on Monday of Israel‘s largest worker‘s union, the Histadrut Labor Federation, was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s inner circle, a senior member of the coalition confirmed on Thursday.
The head of the Histadrut labor federation urges again far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set a date for early elections, indicating that if the premier refuses, the organization could take steps aimed at forcing his hand.
Speaking at a conference hosted by Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, May 8, Arnon Bar-David declares that Netanyahu and his government “cannot avoid responsibility for the failures of October 7.”
Last year, when protests against the same government’s divisive judicial overhaul plan reached a tipping point following Netanyahu’s firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Histadrut declared a general strike, helping force the prime minister to walk back that decision and to pause the overhaul.
Such a nightmarish spectacle had never been seen in Israel: The president, the prime minister, the chairman of the opposition and the head of the country‘s largest labor federation were trading proposals on the issue of judicial review as if they were cryptocurrency.
Likud minister David Amsalem launched a public attack on Bar-David, anticipating that the latter could end up launching a nationwide strike.
“I remind you that you represent workers who are mostly Likud people who are struggling to make a living,” Amsalem tweeted. “The issue of the judicial reform should be decided in the Knesset, not in the corridors of the Mapai-like Histadrut,” he argued, citing the workers’ party that was a precursor to left-wing Labor and was the ruling party for Israel’s first three decades.
Lapid and Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David reportedly discussed the outline for dialogue that the chairman and his colleagues had recently presented to the prime minister.
Bar-David said after meeting with Lapid: „I will continue to turn over every stone and work with all my might to try and find the right compromise.
Following the meeting, Lapid said he commends „the efforts of the chairman and the framework set by the Histadrut as a basis for shared dialogue.“ Bar-David said „I call on the other parties to show responsible leadership.„
Opposition leader Yair Lapid is meeting with Histadrut labor federation chair Arnon Bar-David in the latter’s office in Tel Aviv.
Bar-David has come under pressure from anti-overhaul protesters to call a strike over the coalition’s bill to curb the authority of the courts.