Israeli intelligence agents are helping to organize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Greece to plug a manpower gap caused by a foreign ministry strike, media reported.
Netanyahu’s two-day visit to Athens which begins on Monday was too important to be put off as it was intended to strengthen ties with Greece after Israel's falling out with former regional ally Turkey, the website of Tel Aviv daily Haaretz quoted an unnamed official saying.
The Mossad foreign intelligence agency reported to be helping to organize the trip has its own network of residents abroad with close contacts with government officials and security agencies in the host country.
The foreign ministry workers' committee is furious, calling the move an unacceptable attempt to break a legal strike action, Haaretz daily newspaper said.
Israeli foreign ministry staff are in a dispute with management over pay and conditions and Haaretz quoted an unnamed union official as saying that staff in Israel's Athens embassy would boycott Netanyahu's trip.
"The ambassador will not meet the Prime Minister at the airport and nobody from the foreign ministry will lift a finger for this trip," the official said.
The embassy employees have been involved in a struggle in recent months that aims at improving their pay and equating their benefits to those of Mossad, Shin Bet and other government agencies with missions abroad. The workers' committee argues that Israeli diplomats are discriminated against when compared to the salaries and benefits received by their colleagues in other services.
Netanyahu is due to travel to Greece on Monday for talks with Prime Minister George Papandreou and other leading officials, and is due to return home on Wednesday.
Israeli public radio said an advance team of staffers from Netanyahu's office was already in Athens preparing the visit and news site Y-net quoted foreign ministry union organiser Yaakov Livneh as saying that Mossad operatives were on the ground helping them.
The Mossad is being assisted in its newfound role by the bureau of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. The Greeks agreed to provide logistical support, are helping officials from the PM's bureau already in Athens for the visit, and are making arrangements for hotels and transportation.
Haaretz quoted sources close to Netanyahu as saying: "Prime Minister Netanyahu is not willing to have the strike at the foreign ministry undermine a strategic decision to strengthen ties with Greece in view of recent developments in our region," a source at the PM's bureau said.