Following a long labor dispute, the Foreign Ministry’s employees declared a general strike on Sunday which will close down the country’s foreign missions and totally paralyze the Israeli diplomatic system for the first time in Israel’s history.
‘’The Ministry in Jerusalem will remain closed and Israel's missions abroad will not open as of Monday morning, March 24. Israel's diplomats will no longer engage with foreign representatives, take care of official visits of any kind, either in Israel or overseas, issue visas or provide any consular services,’’ the Ministry said on its website.
‘’This is just part of an extended list of organizational measures which will take effect immediately, after the Ministry of Finance caused the failure of a seven-month mediation process led by the former Chief Justice of the Labor Court,’’ the ministry said.
A statement put out by the workers committee said that the workers declared an “indefinite” strike “in protest of the employment conditions for Israeli diplomats and because of the draconian decision by the Treasury to cut the workers’ salaries.
Seven months of mediation efforts exploded on March 4 when the workers rejected a Finance Ministry proposal. The workers are striking for better pay, as well as compensation for spouses of diplomats forced to forfeit careers in order to join their husbands or wives during their stints abroad.
The Finance Ministry lashed out against the Foreign Ministry workers union, accusing it of “holding the citizens of Israel hostage and harming the vital interests of the state.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman slammed the strike and called it a “miserable” decision that shows the workers committee has become “hysterical.”
“This move has no benefit, and will only cause more damage to the ministry’s workers,” he said. “I am sorry that these irresponsible steps will come at the expense of the country’s citizens, and as contacts are under way with the Treasury and in the middle of mediation.”
A number of high-profile visits to Israel were canceled as a result of the measures, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned trip to Mexico, Colombia and Panama next month.
In addition, Pope Francis’s planned visit in May is in doubt because of the strike measures.