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Israeli trade unions could drive out Netanyahu

A protester wears a mask depicting Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv yesterday. Credit: Getty

September 2, 2024 - 10:30am

The past 11 months have seen thousands of deaths in Israel and Gaza, while numerous false hopes of a ceasefire have quickly been quashed. Yet the reports from yesterday detailing the killing of six of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, hours before they were discovered, have caused particular horror and pain.

It has been obvious for a while that few if any more hostages will be recovered alive via military means. And as the fighting continues, many have drawn the conclusion that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has effectively accepted the deaths of the remaining hostages as an acceptable cost of continuing the war.

Just days ago, when Netanyahu informed the war cabinet that he would not agree to IDF troops leaving the “Philadelphi Corridor” between Gaza and Egypt, Defence Secretary Yoav Gallant told him this would mean sacrificing the remaining hostages. Bibi is reported to have responded that “this is the decision” he has made.

Some of the relatives of the dead have explicitly blamed Netanyahu for the murders of their loved ones, and mass protests have erupted across the country. In Tel Aviv, protestors are blocking the main road through the city, while in Jerusalem thousands demonstrated outside the Prime Minister’s office. In Haifa, thousands blocked a major intersection in the city, setting up barricades with blazing tires.

The latest outrage has even prompted the Histadrut – Israel’s equivalent to the TUC or the AFL-CIO – to call for a general strike, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to the war.

This is significant, as Israeli unions are traditionally Right-leaning, with close links to Netanyahu’s Likud party. And much of their rank and file is made up Mizrachi working-class voters who are especially likely to back Bibi, and who prioritise continuing the campaign in Gaza even at the expense of rescuing the hostages.

During the protests against Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms last year, the Histadrut continually resisted pressure to call a general strike. Though individual unions walked out, the Histadrut leadership preferred milquetoast statements to taking action.

Yet last night Histadrut General Secretary Arnon Bar-David stood outside IDF headquarters, surrounded by hostage families, and announced a strike starting this morning with the aim of forcing the government into a ceasefire agreement. Much of Israel will now grind to a halt, with Ben Gurion International Airport closed to flights and schools only opening for half a day.

There are many who fear that this will still not make any difference. Although public protests were able to postpone — if not quite defeat — the judicial reforms, they have been unable thus far to pressure the government into a ceasefire.

The past 11 months have revealed that about one-third of Israeli voters will back Netanyahu no matter what. He knows that if Likud can get 30% or so in any election — and that’s about where it is polling now — then he can count on the support of the ultra-Orthodox parties to form a government.

Bibi is no longer battling for public opinion, but instead for the support of a specific fraction of the electorate, and that fragment supports continuing the war. Much will depend on the extent and duration of the industrial action. If enough workers in enough sectors walk out today and continue to do so, economic pressure may succeed where months of mass protests have failed.


David Swift is a historian and author. His next book, Scouse Republic, will be published in 2025.

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El Uro
El Uro
3 months ago

Your wet dreams…

George K
George K
3 months ago

Once the State becomes an idol the people are dispensable

Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss
3 months ago

“It has been obvious for a while that few if any more hostages will be recovered alive via military means. And as the fighting continues, many have drawn the conclusion that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has effectively accepted the deaths of the remaining hostages as an acceptable cost of continuing the war.”

Really. And the author thinks they will be released by negotiation! In your dreams. The reason this has taken so long is the Biden administration holding the Israelis back. The IDF needs to go in there full on and raze Gaza and Hamas to the ground so that Hamas never remerges again. Nothing short of total victory will suffice. And playing nice coupled with appeasement never works.

John 0
John 0
3 months ago
Reply to  Johann Strauss

It was a strange statement by the author, given Farhan al-Qadi’s rescue last week. And I agree, the idea that negotiation will work with Hamas who ultimately only want the destruction of Israel is laughable, unless they expect Israel to release all Hamas’ terrorist prisoners.
Indeed, during the last set of negotiations they committed a terrorist act inside Israel, and during the so-called “ceasefires” Hamas was still firing hundreds of rockets.
Why would they negotiate when their leaders are safe outside of Gaza, their tunnels keep their army mostly safe and any civilians killed only increases the world caving into Hamas’ demands. It’s a win-win as they don’t care for the Gazan people only the destruction of Israel.

Andrew
Andrew
2 months ago
Reply to  John 0

“Hamas who ultimately only want the destruction of Israel”

“The right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is eternal and indisputable… therefore, Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”

Likud charter, 1977

One might note that John O didn’t reference the charter platform of the Likud party, which explicitly states there can never be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. Which is an open demand for the destruction of Palestine. This apparently doesn’t count. Or maybe, as is more likely, John O simply doesn’t know about the charter.

The overwhelming reference is to the Hamas charter, which until 2006 called for the state of Israel’s destruction. This charter was created by a minority under conditions of siege in ’88. It has had little influence with Palestinians in general. Hamas leaders have repeatedly made it clear that they would accept a two-state settlement aligned with the international consensus which the U.S. and Israel have frustrated for more than four decades. However, that charter has played perfectly into the hands of Israeli propaganda, repeated verbatim in US media.
 
Israel has long wanted Hamas to dominate Palestinian politics and has even helped organize it. The reason – and Israelis have been open about it, so there’s no excuse – is that Israeli leaders fear moderate, secular, nationalist Palestinians since they press for negotiations and diplomatic settlement. That can’t be tolerated.
 
The history of this approach is longstanding. You can read it in statements by Zionist leader and first President of Israel Chaim Weizmann. He made it plan that the problem is the Arab moderates, not the radicals. Much later, one saw it in the example at the beginning of the intifada, when Israel sponsored Islamic fundamentalists to run interference, bussing them in to disrupt Palestinian strikes and protests. And look up Israel’s protection of Sheikh Yaseen, extremist leader of the fundamentalists who was going around shouting “Kill the Jews.” Same thing in Lebanon, when Israel backed extremists to frustrate the moderates, greatly contributing to the growth of Hezbollah. That should sound familiar. The US got similar results in Afghanistan supporting the Northern Alliance.

Andrew
Andrew
3 months ago
Reply to  Johann Strauss

“Raze Gaza.”

“Raze” is doing some serious cover work there. It allows Johann to avoid admitting that he recommends genocide. He wants to seem reasonable, not a moral monster.

Of course he’d condemn an equivalent statement by Hamas about Israel. He’d immediately notice that “raze” soft-peddles the practical implication.

Alex Lekas
Alex Lekas
2 months ago
Reply to  Andrew

Remind me which side has openly talked for decades about the other’s extermination, which one talks of the river and sea, and which raises its young to find joy in killing.

Andrew
Andrew
2 months ago
Reply to  Alex Lekas

I would remind you that you just provided a rationale for genocide. It takes a lot of effective indoctrination to get someone to hold such a view.

A good reminder would be to read the history of Zionism. Because the Israeli side fits your description.

To that end, I’m grateful for the opportunity to recommend Miko Peled’s book The General’s Son: Journey Of An Israeli in Palestine. You can also find video interviews with him, ex. on YouTube.

We can also listen to people like Yaakov Peri, Maj. Avraham Shalom and Carmi Gilon, and Gen. Ami Ayalon, former chiefs of Shin Bet, Israel’s Security Service, which has primary responsibility for anti-terrorism (Gen. Ayalon was also former Commander of the Navy). According to the 2003 translated interview in the Israeli daily paper Yediot Aharonot, also reported in the New York Times, The Washington Post:
 

Yaakov Peri: “Why is it that everyone – [Shin Bet] directors, chief of staff, former security personnel – after a long service in security organizations become the advocates of reconciliation with the Palestinians? Because they were there… We know the material, the people in the field, and surprisingly, both sides.”

 

Avraham Shalom: “We are taking sure, steady steps to a place where the state of Israel will no longer be a democracy and a home for the Jewish people. We are on our way (to an abyss) because all the steps that we have taken are steps that are contrary to the aspiration for peace. If we do not turn away from this path, of adhering to the entire Land of Israel, and if we do not also begin to understand the other side, damn it, we will not get anywhere. We must, once and for all, admit that there is an other side, that it has feelings and that it is suffering, and that we are behaving disgracefully. Yes, there is no other word for it. Disgracefully. It is all disgraceful. We debase the Palestinian individual to all and sundry. And nobody can take this. We too would not take it if it were done to us. And neither do they take it, why should they suffer? And we are incapable of taking even a small step to correct this.”

 

Peri:”I can say that from whatever aspect you look at it, whether the economic, political, security, or social aspect, in each of these aspects we are going in the direction of decline, nearly a catastrophe. And that is why, if something doesn’t happen here, we will continue to live by the sword, we will continue to wallow in the mud and we will continue to destroy ourselves…  I think that much of what we are doing today in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is immoral, some of it patently immoral. And I think that over time, they pose a very big question mark on where we will be in another 20-30 years.”

 

Avraham Shalom: “[The wall] creates hatred, it expropriates land and annexes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the state of Israel. The result is that [it] achieves the exact opposite of what was intended. The Palestinians are arguing, ‘You wanted two states, and instead you are closing us up in a South African reality.’ Therefore, the more we support the fence, they lose their dream and hope for an independent Palestinian state.”

 

Peri: “The problem is that to this day no leader has ever gotten up in the State of Israel, pounded on the table and said, ‘We are going home, because that is what an agreement entails.’”

 

Gillon: ”I am very concerned about our future. I look at my daughters, who are still young, and it is clear to me that we are heading for a crash.

 

Peri: “What you see is apathy, repression, a lack of desire to think deeply. Look what has been going on over the last three years: there are no demonstrations, no rallies, almost no protest. Those who do bother to come out strongly against the government of Israel or against the leadership, put an ad in the newspaper at their own expense. There is almost nothing organized. Look what they’ve managed to do to us.”

 
That’s it. “A lack of desire to think deeply.”

“Raze Gaza” is not thinking deeply. It’s not thinking at all.

Martin M
Martin M
2 months ago
Reply to  Andrew

Maybe the solution is to build a wall between Israel and Gaza that has no gates at all in it, ensuring that Palestinians cannot not enter Israel for any reason. If there are no jobs in Gaza, tough luck. If there is no water in Gaza, build desalination plants. I appreciate that this may be impractical for a range of reasons though.

Andrew
Andrew
2 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

That opinion depends on ignorance of what Gaza was like before the state of Israel.

The first thing to note is that there was no “Gaza strip” before it was established by Israel in the early ’50s. It was a city, with towns around it. Israel drew a line and pushed refugees out of Southern Palestine into an area that was once flourishing, known for its fertility, especially citrus, and for its fishing resource. Gaza city itself had a vibrant culture and wealth that traces back thousands of years.

The potential sustainability of Gaza is not inherently limited. It has become unsustainable due to Israeli policies.

Martin M
Martin M
2 months ago
Reply to  Andrew

Yes. And?

Andrew
Andrew
2 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

If X was in good shape before Y, then the first step is to stop Y’s negative influence on X. Ensuring that X can’t access Y isn’t going to solve the problem at source. What you want instead is to ensure that Y can’t access X, can’t keep causing the distortions that would otherwise not exist, as history shows.

Andrew
Andrew
2 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

edit double post

Lindsey Thornton
Lindsey Thornton
2 months ago
Reply to  Johann Strauss

There is only one right response against the death cult Hamas and that’s the one taken by Netanyahu and the IDF, it’s hardly surprising they pay no heed to the antisemitic obfuscation thrown around on the MSM. The image of Netanyahu with blooded hands is pure ‘blood libel’ and is more representative of Hamas propaganda. The appeasers are playing into their hands.

Andrew
Andrew
2 months ago

“Death cult.”

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240316-former-shin-bet-director-ami-ayalon-if-i-were-palestinian-i-would-fight-against-israel/

Interview with Ami Ayalon, former head, Shin Bet, former Commander, Israel Navy:

If you were a Palestinian living in the West Bank or Gaza, what would your view be of Israel?

“I would fight against Israel to achieve my liberty.”

How hard would you fight? How dirty?

“I would do everything in order to achieve my liberty. And that’s it.”

Jacques Rossat
Jacques Rossat
3 months ago

“Israeli unions are traditionally Right-leaning, with close links to Netanyahu’s Likud party. And much of their rank and file is made up Mizrachi working-class voters who are especially likely to back Bibi”
This says all. The traditional Israeli left totally liquefied and the Likud ironically represents the left of the extreme right. Bibi won’t budge.

Chris Whybrow
Chris Whybrow
3 months ago

I sincerely hope they do.

Jonathan Cashdan
Jonathan Cashdan
3 months ago

There are many Israelis, myself included, who think that putting pressure on one’s own side will only increase the price demanded by the terrorists, make them greedier, more determined, and less likely to come to an agreement. This has been my view for the last 300-odd days, but out of consideration for the many people whose loved ones are being terrorized by Hamas, I would not dream of shouting this out loud.

Nick Toeman
Nick Toeman
2 months ago

Were my offspring, brother or grandsons hostages I would surely want a ceasefire in exchange for their release, alive. However, it would surely signal to Hamas that this is the way to do business with Israel and ensure more such evil transactions in future. It’s a terrible dilemma.

El Uro
El Uro
2 months ago
Reply to  Nick Toeman

It’s not a dilemma if you understand that you are in war. If you think you are in a rational world, it’s a dilemma.
Unfortunately the world is not rational, that is what West doesn’t understand. Barbarians are within the gate.

Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke
2 months ago

Time for a rethink. Time to do a lot of shouting out loud.

Alex Lekas
Alex Lekas
2 months ago

Odd that nowhere in the calculus is there mention of Hamas freeing the hostages and effectively calling Israel’s bluff. If that happened but Bibi kept pushing the offensive, there would be a cost to his govt internally and externally. But to read this, I get the sense that there is only one party to the conflict.

Martin M
Martin M
2 months ago
Reply to  Alex Lekas

It doesn’t seem likely that Hamas will do that. Who would Hamas leaders hide behind if they did? Plus, Hamas don’t seem to care about Palestinian civilians any more that the Israelis do.

Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke
2 months ago

I thought Israel’s trade unions were made of sterner stuff but obviously not.

Martin M
Martin M
2 months ago

While I have always been a friend of Israel, I am no friend of Netanyahu. Even leaving aside the fact that he is personally corrupt, his job was to guard the people of Israel from events like October 7, and in that, he failed utterly any completely.