Histadrut head urges early elections, hints at potential future general strike
Arnon Bar-David says he has lost trust in government, but timing is key for any drastic action to force national vote; government decision on hostage deal could play a part
The head of the powerful Histadrut labor federation on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set a date for early elections, indicating that if the premier refuses, the organization could take steps aimed at forcing his hand.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Yedioth Ahronoth news outlet, Arnon Bar-David declared that Netanyahu and his government “cannot avoid responsibility” for the failures of October 7, when invading Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 252, of whom 128 are still held in Gaza.
Last year, when protests against the government’s divisive judicial overhaul plan reached a tipping point following Netanyahu’s firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Histadrut declared a general strike, helping force the prime minister to walk back that decision and pause the overhaul.
“The responsibility lies with the decision-makers, and I don’t see that they are trying to fix the situation,” Bar-David said Wednesday, likely referring to the government’s ongoing failure to free the remaining hostages, which has drawn fresh fiery protests.
Declaring that he has no trust in the government, whose members have largely avoided taking responsibility for the October 7 failures, Bar-David said: “I am calling for agreed-upon elections that will stop the chaos in the State of Israel.”
Asked about Netanyahu’s Likud party contending that the government will serve out its full four years, Bar-David said: “Eventually we’ll likely need to lead him” to call elections.
However, he said the timing for this needed to be right, arguing that declaring a general strike now would not help.
If “we arrive at a situation in which it is entirely up to the Israeli government and it won’t seek a hostage deal, then I think we will be able to apply more pressure and there will be more chaos, both by citizens and by workers,” he said.
For several months, anti-government protesters have held weekly demonstrations calling for elections as well as an immediate deal with Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza.
Calls for an election have grown amid deep dissatisfaction over the government’s handling of the war, with repeated polls showing Netanyahu losing his majority in the Knesset if a vote were held today.
Though many top figures in the military and security services have publicly admitted failings in preventing the October 7 massacre and are expected to resign once the war winds down (one top general has already announced his departure), government ministers, including Netanyahu, have refused to accept culpability for the failures that enabled the assault.
