The Histadrut, Israel’s national federation of trade unions, declared a nationwide general strike yesterday in response to the government’s judicial overhaul plan. Following the declaration of the strike and massive protests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced later the same evening that he would pause the legislation that critics say will turn Israel into an autocracy. The Histadrut subsequently called an end to the strike.
Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David announced the strike in a press conference alongside presidents of major companies, the chair of the Israeli Presidency of Business Organizations, Dovi Amitai, and the chair of the Israeli Medical Association, Zion Hagay. Leading up to the press conference, dozens of people demonstrated near the Histadrut building, calling for a suspension of the legislation.
Following the announcement of the general strike, Ben Gurion Airport was immediately shut down, halting departures. The health system announced that it would operate with Saturday hours starting on Tuesday, and that doctors who wish to participate in protests would do so in coordination with their managers. The Azrieli and Big mall chains closed at noon.
The Federation of Local Authorities announced that municipal governments would join the strike, but did not publish a clear outline of their involvement.
The speakers at the press conference emphasized that public transportation would be excluded from the strike.
The Lawyers’ Union announced that lawyers in the public service would go on strike immediately. The Union of Social Workers announced the shutdown of welfare services.
CEOs of insurance companies and banks as well as former personnel from the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, were in attendance at the press conference. “This is nothing less than a historic day,” Bar-David said. “We all worry about the fate of the people of Israel. We seem to have lost our way. It is time to return the State of Israel to sanity and the right path. It's time to speak out."
Bar-David made it clear that the Histadrut remains non-political. “We must not divide sector by sector any more, we must not polarize the nation,” Bar-David said. “On November 1, there were elections in the State of Israel. My father, the late Pinchas Bar-David, went to vote in the morning. In the evening he arrived in Ichilov Hospital, where he died six months later. He didn’t see the rift happening here. He didn’t see the country he fought for in all the wars of Israel being torn apart. I’m glad that at least he didn’t see that. What have we come to? Where are we leading our beloved State of Israel? Into the abyss? Today we are stopping the descent into the abyss.”
“For the last 12 weeks, I’ve done everything to calm people’s spirits,” said Bar-David. “There is a limit to how long one can stand by and see that what’s happening is not enough. I did not want us to get to this confrontation. I tried to avoid a strike and shutdown. But you cannot be idle in the face of this polarization, which is tearing Israeli society apart from the inside. It’s not possible. Today we face a historic moment and a historic strike, in which employers and employees join hands together."
In a speech on Monday night, Netanyahu announced that he would be pausing the reforms until the Knesset’s summer session, which is set to begin on April 30. Following Netanyahu’s announcement, the Histadrut announced that it would call off the strike.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Etz Greenfeld.
