From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Netanyahu expelling initiator of today’s wildcat airport strike from Likud party
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The ruling Likud party says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the termination of the party membership of the Ben Gurion Airport workers’ union chief, Pinchas Idan, over the hours-long wildcat strike he ordered today that caused chaos during peak travel season.
The statement says that the decision has been made “due to the wild and illegal strike at the airport that harmed citizens and damaged the economy.”
Idan also ordered an airport strike in March 2023, when the national Histadrut labor federation called a nationwide strike to protest the government’s judicial overhaul and the firing of defense minister Yoav Gallant.
He wasn’t expelled from the party back then despite calls for such a move, and he claimed at the time that the strike had been coordinated with Netanyahu.
The Times of Israel Community.