Ya’alon calls to shut down the country, Histadrut chief says no national strike

Comparing members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to Nazis, former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon declares that “there will be no choice but to shut down the country in order to save it.”

“The State of Israel is currently experiencing the most severe crisis since its founding — perhaps since the dawn of Zionism. Understanding this crisis is the key to emerging from it. We are at a crossroads: either we return to being a Jewish, democratic, and liberal state, or we continue down a path that is messianic, racist, fascist, homophobic, misogynistic, corrupt and cursed,” Ya’alon tells a conference at Tel Aviv University.

“They are willing to prolong the war indefinitely — even at the cost of sacrificing the hostages. This is a chaotic situation. Abandoning the hostages is part of their worldview. They follow the teachings of Rabbi Dov Lior — an ideology of Jewish supremacy, a kind of Mein Kampf. I get goosebumps just saying that,” he says.

Lior is the former chief rabbi of the Kiryat Arba settlement and one of the most authoritative religious leaders among Israel’s ultranationalist movement.

“What gives us hope is that before October 7, the streets were full — 600,000 protesters who represented countless others. Every poll shows that the majority wants a Jewish and democratic state, the release of the hostages and elections. But after October 7, the protest weakened,” Ya’alon continues.

“In this reality, there will be no choice but to shut down the country in order to save it. For me, that means nonviolent civil disobedience — sitting around the Prime Minister’s Office, his home, the Knesset. Teachers, doctors, unions — everyone is crying out. We’ll need to paralyze the country.”

Addressing the same conference, Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David rejects a general strike out of hand, adding that he did not support the recent teachers’ strike either.

“Some students can’t go to school, while others can. There’s a court ruling and an agreement with the union — they must go back to work. I don’t support the strike,” he says, saying there is a sense of “anarchy” amid the constant back and forth in the school system.

“It’s easy to demand that I declare a strike — but I have made a strategic decision not to sink the country in a time of war,” he says. “I could cause insane anarchy — but that’s not my way. There is a war going on, with soldiers killed and wounded – and at the same time we also have to manage the economy.”