Saved by The Bell

Angry people and employees going on strike.

On Tuesday, facebook and email groups, whatsapp and more were full of panicky "how will we travel... manage etc during the BIG STRIKE?" Schools, public transportation, museums, sick funds, government offices etc were all supposed to be closed on Wednesday.

I answered one of those requests about "How will we travel?" with "We'll know tomorrow." That's because after forty-five years in Israel, especially the last decade or so, I know that these strike threats are no more than negotiations tactics, especially when they are so early in the day.  Tuesday night I was at a friend's apartment in Jerusalem so I could easily get to Matan in the morning, and we had almost no doubt that the strike would be averted.

Nowadays, especially with a Likud Government of a very anorexic 61 MKs that does not want elections again, Bibi will order the government representatives to MAKE A DEAL! And that's what happened.

General public strike averted at the last moment

Illustration Photo Credit: Channel 2 News

It's not that the public agrees with the Workers Unions; today's Israelis refuse to be inconvenienced for even a second. And there's nothing more inconvenient than a strike. Just days after the kids went back to school after the long Chanukah vacation, the very last thing that parents want to deal with is finding their kids at home and all the logistics of trying to work and care for them simultaneously. Even more annoying than the public transportation being on strike is when teachers strike. And considering that the last Netanyahu government barely lasted a year, he does not want elections to be an annual tradition.

Bibi bought some peace for a bit, and we'll see what his opponents have up their sleeves next...