Ben Gurion departures halted as Histadrut declares ‘historic’ strike against overhaul

The head of the Histadrut labor federation on Monday declared a “historic” labor strike in an attempt to “stop the madness” of the government’s controversial judicial overhaul, ramping up demonstrations after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired for speaking out against the planned changes. As part of the labor action, workers at Ben Gurion Airport swiftly announced they would prevent departures. Other organizations also declared they were joining the strike. “We are all worried about Israel’s fate,” Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David said during a press conference alongside business leaders and public officials. “Together we say, enough!” “We have lost our way — this is not about left or right,” he continued. “We can no longer polarize the nation.” The announcement came ahead of an expected statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is freezing the legislation. The union boss said he had done “everything” in recent weeks “to stop the situation,” but the efforts came to naught. “We are all joining hands to shut down the State of Israel,” Bar-David said. “The malls and the factories will close.” Shortly after Bar-David spoke, the workers union at Ben Gurion Airport was the first to take action, with its head announcing an immediate halt to departures. “I ordered the immediate halt of takeoffs at the airport,” Pinchas Idan said in a statement, without giving further details.<br/>