Israel’s Histadrut Declares Strike as Pressure for Hostage Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s Labor Federation, the Histadrut, on Sunday declared a nationwide strike to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to make a deal with Hamas after the military recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza.
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The group, representing the majority of the country’s trade unionists, said members will walk out beginning at 6 a.m. local time on Monday. The action will include Ben-Gurion International Airport, the main airport in the country.
“It is no longer possible to stand idly by,” Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a televised statement. “This thing — of Jews being murdered in the tunnels of Gaza — is unconscionable and it has to stop. A deal must be reached, and a deal is more important than anything else.”
A forum of Israel’s top 200 business leaders including owners, chairs, and chief operating officers announced in a statement the private sector will join the strike.
The six hostages — including a maimed Israeli-US citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents helped spearhead US solidarity campaigns for the hostages’ return — were discovered Saturday by troops searching a tunnel in the southern city of Rafah, the army said.
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