Anti-government strikes in Israel, Netanyahu under fire

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under heavy fire since the bodies of six hostages were recovered from a tunnel in Gaza. He listens to sarcasm from the people of his own country. Israelis are repeatedly reminding about his (Netanyahu's) failure to rescue hostages. Netanyahu is responsible for all these things - they are making such accusations. Not only complaints, thousands of people have come down the road to express their anger against the government. Various Israeli organizations and political parties have called for a general strike since Sunday. 

In addition, the Histadrut, the country's largest labor union, called a strike across Israel on Monday. Already, ordinary people in various regions including Tel Aviv have started closing their businesses. Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye. 

Demonstrators say it is because of Netanyahu that the hostages could not return alive. Because he (Netanyahu) did not agree to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas. But they were alive to Hamas for more than 300 days. Al-Jazeera reported that there were reports of clashes between protesters and security forces on Sunday night in the biggest anti-government protests in Israel since the Gaza war began nearly 11 months ago. 

Demonstrators chanted slogans demanding Netanyahu to cease war with the Palestinian independence movement Hamas and bring back the rest of the prisoners. Most of the protesters in Israeli cities were marching peacefully with Israeli flags. However, protesters in Tel Aviv broke through police barricades and blocked a major highway. At that time, the police fired water cannon at the protesters to disperse them and arrested 29 people from among the protesters. 

Meanwhile, Israel's largest trade union federation, the Histadrut, has also called for a general strike to pressure the government to sign the ceasefire agreement. They took this step for the first time after October 7 last year. The union announced that Israel's main air transport hub, Ben Gurion Airport, will be closed from 8 am on Monday. The union also aims to shut down or disrupt key sectors of Israel's economy, including banking and health care, during the strike. Histadrut head Arnon Bar-David said, 'A deal is more important than anything else. But we are getting body bags instead of contracts.' 

Municipal services in Tel Aviv, Israel's economic hub, will also be shut down during Monday's strike. The Manufacturers Association of Israel said it supported the strike and accused the government of failing in its "moral responsibility" to return the prisoners alive. Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has already warned the workers not to participate in the protest. He said that the workers who will participate in the strike will not be paid.

Meanwhile, Israel's former prime minister and current opposition leader Yair Lapid also called for a strike against Netanyahu. He said the prisoners could not return alive because of Netanyahu and his cabinet. On the other hand, Netanyahu gave a video message under stress after the recovery of the bodies of six prisoners. He claimed that he has been trying to reach a ceasefire with Hamas since last December. But Hamas does not agree. He said that Israel agreed to the new ceasefire proposal given by the United States on August 16. But Hamas did not agree. But Hamas said three of the six prisoners whose bodies were recovered by Israeli forces would have been released if the deal had been reached.