The Histadrut has agreed to assist the Port of Eilat through its fund for factories in distress. This decision was announced during a meeting held last week between Histadrut Chair Arnon Bar-David, Port of Eilat Chair Avi Hormaro, and port CEO Gideon Golber.
The meeting was scheduled with the aim of formulating effective solutions to the severe crisis afflicting the Port of Eilat. As a result of Houthi threats, maritime traffic to the port has all but stopped.
During the meeting, a comprehensive action plan was agreed upon, which includes immediate financial assistance to be transferred by the Histadrut, alongside a commitment by the port management and owners to participate in the economic effort. In order to ensure continued employment, Port of Eilat workers will be temporarily transferred to the Port of Ashdod in accordance with the workers’ desires and the needs of the port.
The meeting was the culmination of a prolonged and intensive process, during which the Histadrut’s Eilat division and its transport workers union worked to highlight the crisis and the port, mobilize support, and build solutions. As part of this process, the Histadrut emphasized that the port serves as the southern gateway to the state of Israel and holds strategic, civilian, and security importance accordingly.
The port’s geographic location, its proximity to borders and to international trade routes, make it a critical connecting point between Israel and the world, and reduced activity in the port may harm national infrastructure and security the Israeli economy, the Histadrut further argued.
“We will not allow one of the state’s gateways, so important to us, to be abandoned,” Histadrut Chair Bar-David said. “The Histadrut will do whatever is required to ensure the continued operation of the port and the employment security of its workers. We will not leave any worker alone. I thank the port management and the owners for the fruitful cooperation and the efforts to maintain the activity of the port.”
Hormaro similarly expressed the importance of protecting the port workers, whom he described as “a national asset.”
