Israel shuts down as general strike calls for deal with Hamas
Airports, schools, banks and hospitals across Israel have closed, as its largest trade union called for a one-day strike to protest over the government’s failure to secure a hostage deal.
Histadrut announced a nationwide strike as public anger escalated following the discovery of the bodies of six Israelis taken captive by Hamas in Gaza over the weekend.
On Sunday night, after half a million people took to the streets in major cities across Israel demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secure a deal with Hamas to free the captives, the head of the union, Arnon Bar-David, announced a "complete strike" starting Monday.
“I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken,” Bar-David said. “A deal is not progressing due to political considerations and this is unacceptable.”
The stoppage was originally set to conclude at 6am on Tuesday, however Israeli media is reporting that Bar-David told the Labour Court in Bat Yam that it would end at 6pm on Monday.
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Ben Gurion international airport was reported to have suspended flights for two hours from 8am on Monday, with exceptions made for seven flights to destinations in the US, according to Ynet news.
However, scheduled flights remained grounded, with queues mounting past 10am, when services were expected to resume, the Times of Israel reported.
The mayors of Tel Aviv and Givatayim said their municipalities would be observing the strike, with more expected to join them.
Meanwhile some 1,000 protestors blocked traffic on a street in Tel Aviv to demand the immediate release of all remaining captives in Gaza.
The strike is supported by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
In a statement, the group condemned the months of “delays, sabotage and excuses” by the government, adding that the six recently slain captives “would like still be alive” if Netanyahu had secured a deal sooner.
Israeli media said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday seeking an injunction against the strike, saying that it would harm the economy and has no legal basis.
A crowd of hundreds of Israelis protesting the strike and urging a continuation of the war gathered in front of Netanyahu's office. According to Ynet news, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir addressed the crowd, assuring them that “we are using our power in the government to prevent a reckless deal".
The group temporarily blocked the entrance of the office and were heard chanting “Shutting down the economy is a prize for Hamas” and saying that the strikers are "encouraging terror".
Meanwhile, far-right MP Yitzhak Wasserlauf branded the strike "criminal" and called on Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman to amend legislation to allow the public to sue Histadrut for damages incurred by the strike.
Wasserlauf argued that “there is no right to strike when it is purely about national security policy, without any relation to the employment conditions of the Histadrut employees", the Times of Israel reported.
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