TUFI DECEMBER 2006 UPDATE: Union General Strike and Industrial Unrest in Israel
Public sector unrest has dominated the domestic news in Israel during December.
Israel was brought to a near standstill by a national strike on Wednesday 29th November, shutting down the country’s only international airport and all the seaports. Throughout the country, trains came to a halt, government ministries shut and postal, phone and electrical services stopped.
The strike began after the Histadrut failed to reach an agreement with the government on providing funds to regional councils that have been unable to pay their workers for months. A Histadrut report of 17 December stated that 44 local authorities are still in debt to their employees, 312 of them have not paid their October wages and all but one are late paying the November salaries.
While the Israeli Finance Ministry has blamed poor planning and mismanagement (including corruption amongst council leaderships), others believe that the crisis is indicative of socio-economic divisions and has been caused by an inability to raise sufficient tax revenue from poorer residents. Historic boundaries determine which councils enjoy healthy income from affluent areas and industry while their neighbours continue to suffer from incurable deficits.
At the time of writing, the National Labour Court has given the State time to find a solution to the unpaid salaries and prohibited the Histadrut to call a strike during this period.
The Histadrut Chairman, Ofer Eini, has demanded that the government immediately transfer full salaries to all unpaid local authority workers and that all the employers’ contributions to pension funds be allocated. In addition, the Histadrut demanded that council heads who held back wages, be held criminally responsible, to ensure nor repeat.
Ofer Eini said that he was loath to resume that strike, but that if the state did not fulfil its obligation to pay its workers, he would most likely declare it anew.
*Trade Union Friends of Israel has written to the leadership of Histadrut offering our support and solidarity with their actions. Ofer Eini, Chair of Histadrut is due to visit the UK in January for talks with UK trade unionists, parliamentarians and ministers.
OTHER NEWS
Blair urges Washington to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict
On Monday 11 December, Prime Minister Tony Blair returned from five days in Washington and welcomed one of the central recommendations of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report (which was published during his visit) that efforts be renewed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I think the key diplomatic push is on Israel-Palestine, [which] is my view, and I totally welcome what the [ISG] report says on that, and I think we’ve got to move forward on that.” (10/12/06)
Mr Blair had also expressed his intention to visit the region before the New Year at a press conference on Thursday 8 December.
Israeli restraint following rocket attack
The ceasefire in Gaza declared on Sunday 26 November has continued to hold despite continuing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. On Thursday 7 December a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in open territory in the western Negev. Israel did not respond to the attack.
The Israeli cabinet has implemented measures aimed at strengthening the Gaza ceasefire by adopting new rules of engagement for soldiers operating in the Strip. The new guidelines approved on Sunday 3 December, forbid soldiers from firing at Qassam rocket launching sites in Gaza.
Further measures for the West Bank have also been approved, including soldiers no longer being able to arrest Palestinians without the approval of a senior commanding officer. This is intended to reduce tensions in the West Bank that may undermine the ceasefire in Gaza.
Fatah loyalist’s children killed in Gaza shooting
Four people were killed and another four wounded in a drive-by shooting in Gaza City on Monday 11 December. Three of the victims, ranging in age from six to 10, were the children of Fatah loyalist and intelligence officer Baha Balousheh who survived an assassination attempt in September this year.
Masked gunmen fired over 30 bullets at a vehicle on a busy street as hundreds of children were arriving for school. Hours after the attack Fatah supporters tried to close off the street and get the children to safety while others burnt tyres and gathered outside Mr Balousheh’s home as a show of support. Fatah spokesman Saeb Erekat voiced concern that the unprecedented attack on children would trigger factional infighting and escalating violence.
Talks between Hamas and Fatah on forming a national unity government have failed and President Abbas has alluded to the possibility of calling for early elections.
Javier Solana criticises Hamas over failure of National Unity talks
The European Union’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, began a trip to the Middle East on Friday 1 December. On Saturday, he held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza, during which he expressed his regret over the failure of Palestinian government unity talks and accused Hamas of missing an opportunity to lift the sanctions and improve the lives of Palestinians. Solana’s visit may be his last trip to the region before standing down.
Beckett visit to Lebanon amid escalating anti-government protests
In early December, a violent gun battle between Sunni and Shiite groups in Beirut left one man dead and over 20 others injured as the stand-off between the Lebanese government and pro-Syrian Hezbollah forces escalated. The Lebanese army is struggling to keep calm in the city and has deployed 20,0000 extra troops, especially around Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s offices.
The gun battle came after three days of anti-government, non-violent protests which saw over 800,000 protestors, almost a quarter of the Lebanese population, congregating in two of Beirut’s central squares. The protestors heard broadcasts of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nassrallah over loudspeakers throughout the day.
On 1 December, the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, made her first official visit to Lebanon. During the visit she met with Mr Siniora and expressed the UK’s strong support for his government:
“My discussions with Prime Minister Siniora and Lebanese leaders allowed me to support the work of the United Nations and the Lebanese government in the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and their moves to set up an International Tribunal into the murder of former Prime Minister Hariri… The United Kingdom and the international community are committed to a stable and prosperous Lebanon” (01/12/06)
The recent violence has been sparked by the assassination on Tuesday 21 November of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, the fifth senior Lebanese official to be assassinated over the last two years. His assassination adds to the increasing political instability in Lebanon following the resignation of six pro-Syrian cabinet ministers and means that only one more minister would need to leave the cabinet in order for the government to collapse and be forced to call new elections.
On Sunday 10 December Lebanon saw the biggest anti-government protests since the campaign of civil disobedience was started on 1 December. Hundreds of thousands of protestors gathered in Beirut’s two central squares calling for the government to either hand over more power to Hezbollah or to face new elections. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has said he will resist what he has called an attempted coup.
Pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has officially rejected the cabinet’s proposal to set up a tribunal into the assassination of Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A UN inquiry implicated Syria in Mr Hariri's assassination last year despite Syrian denial.
Iranian President meets with Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh
On Friday 1 December Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Hamas Authority Prime Minister Ishmail Haniyeh in Qatar. According to Iranian state-run news agency (IRNA), President Ahmadinejad assured Prime Minster Haniyeh that Israel is “on the verge of disappearing” and Haniyeh thanked the Iranian President for his continued support. The Iranian government has continued to fund Hamas, donating a $50 million aid package in response to US and EU sanctions following the election of Hamas.
Haniyeh rejected the demand of Western donors that Hamas recognise Israel’s right to exist. At a speech on Friday 8 December Mr Haniyeh said “we will not give up our Jihadist movement until the full liberation of Jerusalem and Palestinian land.”
Haniyeh also travelled to Syria on Sunday 3 December for talks with officials and the leaders of Palestinian factions based there. This was Haniyeh’s first tour abroad since his Hamas-led government took office in March.
The four-day visit coincides with the start of a state-sponsored two day conference in Tehran entitled “Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision” set to be attended by prominent holocaust deniers and ‘revisionist’ historians. The idea for holding such a conference was dismissed earlier this year in February as “shocking, ridiculous and stupid” by Tony Blair.