Peter Lerner, the head of international relations at Histadrut, the Israeli trade union umbrella group representing some 700,000 workers, tweeted a video of cheering activists. He said the group’s chairman, Arnon Bar-David, had just told the meeting: “We are stopping the legal revolution.”
“This is the time that together we bring Israel back to sanity and to the right path. This is the time that we together say ‘enough’ and it doesn’t matter if we are right or left,” Histadrut said in a statement.
Israel’s airport authority confirmed just before 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) that all departing flights from Ben-Gurion International Airport would be grounded.
Two of Israel’s main seaports, Haifa and Ashdod, said in separate statements seen by Reuters that they would shut down in support of the general strike.
Big brands are taking part in the protest: McDonald’s said it would begin closing its restaurants across the country from midday (5 a.m. ET) before a full national closure from 2 p.m. (7 a.m. ET).
Israel’s leading universities will also be closed Monday in protest against both Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan and Gallant’s firing.
“We, the presidents and rectors of the research universities in Israel, express deep concern about the division and polarization in Israeli society and processes that could lead to a real damage to the national strength and stability of the State of Israel,” they said in a statement. Netanyahu’s planned changes could lead to a “brain drain” in Israel and discourage international students, the statement added.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on Talk TV released Monday, Netanyahu defended his policy and said he was confident the movement to overturn the new law would not last.
“People will see in the end that Israel was a democracy, is a democracy and will be even a stronger democracy after this democratic reform,” he said.
He argued that the changes — which allow the Knesset, the Israeli parliament,…
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