Occupied Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is watching the escalation of mass protests and the repercussions of the comprehensive economic strike announced by the Histadrut trade union federation in support of the Forum of Families of Detainees in the Gaza Strip to pressure his government to conclude a swap deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The strike, announced by Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David, coincided with the escalation of demonstrations by the families of prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, which were joined by political movements, civil society organizations, and parties from the opposition camp, after the Israeli army admitted to finding the bodies of 6 prisoners inside a tunnel in Rafah yesterday, Sunday.
The strike, which began at 6:00 a.m. Monday, included all economic, commercial and service facilities, government ministries, public transportation, Ben Gurion Airport, technology companies, schools, courts, universities, the health sector, councils and municipalities.
turning point
The scenes of protests – considered the largest since the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7 and the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip – seemed to be a turning point in the movement aimed at bringing down the Netanyahu government, which failed to achieve the goals of the war and refuses to reach an exchange deal that guarantees the return of the prisoners.
Amidst the escalation of public anger against Netanyahu’s government, this situation reflected the depth of the rift in Israeli society, and reinforced the political and partisan division and polarization, and the cracking of the consensus that supported the war in its first months, while confirming the conviction that Netanyahu sacrificed the captive detainees in order to remain in the prime minister’s seat.
Israeli writer Sima Kadmon believes that the issue of finding the bodies of the six detainees will be a turning point in everything related to the movement to conclude a swap deal and the continuation of the war on Gaza, noting that the general strike and the possibility of extending it reflect the state of disagreement over the goals of the war and the division over its continuation.
In an article in Yedioth Ahronoth, Kadmon said, “A sense of betrayal, loss, and guilt has accompanied Israeli society since October 7, 2023, as well as anger at the behavior and approach of the government, which has presented a record of misery, ambiguity, and laxity in the negotiations for the exchange deal, which is tantamount to a death sentence for the detainees.”
Ultimately, Kadmon says, anyone who realizes that almost none of the goals they were presented with at the beginning of the war have been achieved.
“Hamas may have been undermined, but it has not been defeated. Victory is not complete. Detainees are languishing in the prison tunnels in Gaza, in addition to thousands of people displaced from their homes and lands that were burned and destroyed beyond recognition. Hence the strike and the escalation of protests, perhaps a turning point,” she continued.
Rebellion and disobedience
In light of these developments, Yehuda Sharoni, an economic analyst at the Walla website, attaches great importance to the general strike, but he considered it “just a means” to vent popular anger, which will only succeed if the strike continues for several days and the protests escalate until they reach civil disobedience, which is the only element capable of compelling Netanyahu to accept the deal and return the detainees, in his opinion.
The economic analyst believes that Netanyahu does not care about the fate of the prisoners or the fate of the Israeli economy, saying that what might push him to change his position is “a mass outcry in the streets and enormous pressure on the Likud Knesset members to rebel.”
According to him, Netanyahu – who has become a hostage to the policies of the far-right parties and partners in the government coalition – has entrusted the political and economic future to the head of “Religious Zionism” Bezalel Smotrich, and the head of “Jewish Power” Itamar Ben-Gvir, “all for personal goals and political considerations.”
He pointed out that the economic situation, which is deteriorating due to the continuation of the war, does not move Netanyahu, “because in order to survive politically, he is prepared to increase the deficit in the general budget and challenge international credit rating companies.”
As protests escalate, Sharoni believes there are still a number of Knesset members who may push for a no-confidence vote in the government, or push for an election date, alongside a national unity government, as Shas party leader Rabbi Aryeh Deri has called for.
Fears and Anxiety
In anticipation of the repercussions of the political protests and escalating strike steps on the party scene, Michael Hauser-Tov, political affairs correspondent for Haaretz, says, “Netanyahu is monitoring developments and fears any attempt at rebellion in the Likud that Defense Minister Yoav Galant might lead.”
He added that senior officials close to Netanyahu admitted that he was “worried,” as they put it, about the possibility of protests increasing significantly in the Israeli street and Galant joining them, as it would be impossible to continue managing the detainees’ file in the same way as before.
He pointed out that Netanyahu – who fears the expansion of the protests outside his home and the Prime Minister’s Office – has not yet made a decision regarding the exchange deal, and is holding limited consultations with his close associates, as he will make his decisions according to the intensity of the demonstrations and their escalation in the coming days.
A senior Likud minister reinforced this argument, and the political affairs correspondent quoted the minister as saying, “It is unpleasant to admit it, but Netanyahu will only offer a deal when the streets are closed and there is a state of civil disobedience, and now he fears Ben-Gvir and Smotrich more than the families of the detainees.”
It is noteworthy that the Histadrut labor union, which is leading the strike, was founded in 1920 as an organization that aimed to provide a comprehensive response to the needs of Jewish workers who immigrated to the “Land of Israel,” and as a Zionist tool for building Jewish settlement in historic Palestine, as the institutions it established before the “establishment” of Israel were considered the institutions of “the state on the road and its cornerstone.”
The Histadrut gained great power and became an economic body that owns a large part of the Israeli economy and major educational and health institutions, in addition to representing most of the workers in the economy and the labor market, whose number is about 4.5 million employees, according to data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.