General strike in Israel on Monday in protest against Netanyahu’s government

The strike will take place on Monday, announced leader Arnon Bar-David, according to the newspaper Haaretz.

It entails, among other things, that the main airport Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion closes to all traffic from 8 o’clock Monday morning local time, 7 o’clock Norwegian time. It is the first general strike since the war between Hamas and Israel began almost eleven months ago.

Histadrut has around 800,000 members in many different parts of the Israeli economy, from health personnel and transport to the banking sector. It has been confirmed that a number of municipal services in Tel Aviv will close on Monday.

Gets support from politicians and business

In addition, the umbrella organization MAI, which represents the companies that account for around 90 percent of Israel’s industrial production, will join the strike.

– Without the hostages coming home, we will not end the war, we will not be able to rehabilitate ourselves as a society, and we will not be able to rehabilitate the Israeli economy, says MAI leader Ron Tomer.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has also called for a general strike. The last time there was such a strike in Israel was in connection with Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform in the spring of 2023.

Strikes for a ceasefire

– We must prevent the hostages from being abandoned and forgotten. I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken. From 6 o’clock tomorrow the entire Israeli economy will go on strike, says Histadrut leader Bar David.

Six Israeli hostages were found dead in Gaza on Saturday evening. All of them had been caught in the Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October last year. On Sunday, protesters blocked streets around Israel demanding a cease-fire agreement to free the remaining hostages.

– We must reach an agreement, such an agreement is more important than anything else. Political considerations mean that we cannot reach an agreement, and this is unacceptable, says Bar-David.

Accused of sabotage

Many critics have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging negotiations for such a ceasefire.

– The hostages would probably have been alive had it not been for the delay, sabotage and excuses. Take responsibility for your mistakes. Take responsibility for the sabotage. Take responsibility for the fact that they were abandoned, says a statement from the Forum for Missing and Hostages’ Families on Sunday.

Hamas took around 250 hostages during the October 7 attack. 101 of them are still in Gaza, Israel estimates that around a third of them are dead.

Shiri Elbag, who is the mother of the hostage Liri, tells Israeli media that she is moved by the large demonstrations in the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday, but sad that such a tragedy was needed to bring people to the streets.

– It is true that (Hamas chief Yahya) Sinwar killed them, but at the end of the day, Liri and I are Israeli citizens, and it is Benjamin Netanyahu’s job and responsibility to get them home.