An Israeli labor court has ordered a general strike that began on Monday morning to end at 2:30 p.m., with the court’s president calling the economic shutdown “political.”
Judge Hadas Yahlom, president of the Labor Court in Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv, said in her decision that “after hearing the parties’ positions and perusing the materials submitted to the case, we hereby grant a temporary injunction against the announced strike, in such a way that the strike will end today at 2:30 p.m.”
She added: “The strike is political, there is no connection between the killing of the abductees and the economy.”
On Sunday, the Histadrut labor federation, which represents some 800,000 Israeli trade unionists, declared a general strike starting at 6 a.m. on Monday, shutting down large sectors of the economy, to protest against the lack of a ceasefire deal with the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.
It came after the IDF announced on Sunday morning that the bodies of six hostages were recovered overnight Saturday from a tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza, sparking anti-government protests and calls by left-wing political leaders for a general strike.
At the request of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu, the state filed a petition on Monday morning against Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar–David.
According to the petition, the strike was not called “for the purposes of a collective labor dispute, and as such is a political strike.”
The strike was set to last for 24 hours with the possibility of an extension, but Bar-David told the Labor Court that the strike would end on Monday at 6 p.m., before the judge’s decision ended it hours earlier.
In a statement, Bar-David said that he accepted the court’s decision to end the strike early.
“It is important to emphasize that the solidarity strike was a significant measure and I stand behind it. Despite the attempts to paint solidarity as political, hundreds of thousands of citizens voted with their feet,” he wrote.
“I thank every one of you — you proved that the fate of the hostages is not right wing or left wing, there is only life or death, and we won’t allow life to be abandoned,” Bar-David continued.
Smotrich praised the court’s ruling, tweeting, “The court accepted our position and determined that the Histadrut’s strike was political and illegal.
“The Israeli workers who showed up for work today in droves proved that the days of the red register that enslaves the workers for political needs are over. It is not possible to damage the Israeli economy and thereby serve the interests of [Hamas leader in Gaza Yayha] Sinwar and Hamas!”
Meanwhile, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged protests to continue despite the ruling.
“This is not about a strike, this is about rescuing the 101 hostages that were abandoned by Netanyahu with the Cabinet decision last Thursday,” the forum said, referring to the vote by ministers to back the IDF’s continued presence at the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Nationwide protests are scheduled for the evening at 7 p.m., including in Jerusalem in front of the prime minister’s residence, Tel Aviv on Begin Street and in Caesarea in front of the prime minister’s house.
