Israel’s Finance Minister: Striking workers will not be paid

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he has directed the treasury’s salary department not to pay anyone who joins the general strike called by Histadrut after six captives were found dead in Gaza with Hamas blaming Israel for killing them.

The far-right minister accused the chairman of Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David, of working in the interests of Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar.

“I regret that instead of the Histadrut Chairman choosing to support the State of Israel in these difficult times by helping to strengthen the Israeli economy, support businesses, and back reservists, he is effectively fulfilling Sinwar’s dream,” Smotrich said in a statement.

“Instead of representing Israeli workers, he chooses to represent Hamas’s interests.”

He has also asked the country’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to submit an urgent request to courts to block the planned nationwide strike.

In his letter, Smotrich argued that a strike had no legal basis since it aimed to improperly influence significant policy decisions of politicians on issues related to state security.

Tens of thousands of Israelis hit the streets on Sunday night, demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire with Palestinian group Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

Many Israelis blocked roads in Tel Aviv and demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, in a first since October 7, Israel’s largest trades union federation, the Histadrut, has called for a general strike to pressure the government into signing a ceasefire deal.

“A deal is more important than anything else,” said Arnon Bar-David. “We are getting body bags instead of a deal.”