TEL AVIV (ISRAEL) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The largest trade union in Israel ordered a strike across various sectors in a sign of support for the ongoing protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahùs plan to overhaul the judiciary.
The strike was ordered by the Histadrut group, which represents nearly 800,000 workers in the health and banking sectors among others, and is expected to paralyze large parts of Israel’s economy.
Thousands of travelers were affected as departing flights out of Israel’s main international airport were grounded in protest. Local governments, which manage pre-schools and other essential services, and a main doctors union confirmed their participation in the strike against the government.
The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around Israel in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahùs decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul of the judiciary system.
Chanting “the country is on fire,” they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv’s main highway, closing the throughway and many others throughout the country for hours. Thousands of protesters were gathering on Monday outside the Knesset to put more pressure on the government.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel’s most right-wing government ever, has plummeted Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked a sustained and intensifying protest movement including its military, who have come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.
– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –
(ITALPRESS).
