Head of labor federation to Netanyahu: ‘Stop the chaos or we will intervene if necessary’

The head of the Histadrut labor federation issues a public call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop the chaos” of his government’s judicial overhaul, and says the labor federation will take action if necessary.

Arnon Bar-David addresses Netanyahu directly in a public speech: “Stop the crazy chaos in Israeli society as soon as possible. The ball is in your court. When the situation reaches an extreme and all other paths have been taken, we will intervene and use our power.”

“Shutting down the economy is not a game,” he tells a Tel Aviv conference, implying that he may use the union to pressure the government to halt its unilaterally advancing of the overhaul so that both sides can return to compromise talks.

“They are fighting in the Knesset, they have blown up the [compromise] talks at the President’s Residence, leaving the people of Israel and the Histadrut caught in the middle,” he says.

According to Channel 12 news, senior officials from the union met earlier in the week to discuss the possibility of calling a general strike.

Protesters converged on the Histadrut headquarters this morning, demanding Bar-David declare a public strike.

Many protesters are angry that the labor federation has not taken action after a bill to radically curb judicial oversight over government decisions was passed overnight in its first reading.

In late March the union joined a daylong general strike triggered by Netanyahu’s since-reversed decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after Gallant called for a pause to the judicial legislation amid growing unrest over the overhaul. The strike was called off the same day after Netanyahu agreed to pause the legislation to allow for negotiations with the opposition.