Understanding the Politics of Israel’s General Strike

Last week, as the devastating war in Gaza neared its one-year mark, Israel’s largest labor federation declared a general strike.

This almost unprecedented declaration was a response to growing pressure on the powerful federation to support those protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and demanding an agreement that would bring home the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Given that the Histadrut’s key power base is the worker committees — workplace-based, union-affiliated representatives elected by the workers — many of whom support Netanyahu’s Likud party, its decision to join the grassroots protest movement is surprising.

Unlike the antiwar sentiment abroad, the majority of Israeli opponents of the ongoing war are not primarily exercised by the rising death toll in Gaza. Rather, their concern is for the 101 hostages, which they believe Netanyahu’s government has no serious plan for rescuing.

Nevertheless, it’s possible that opposition to Netanyahu’s strategic aims may provide the basis for a nascent antiwar movement in the country and a more profound political realignment. However, the character and duration of the strike — lasting some eight hours in total — suggests that there are serious, but not insurmountable, obstacles to the growth of robust opposition in Israel capable of bringing the current war to an end.

The last time the Histadrut declared such a strike was in March 2023 in opposition to the judicial overhaul promoted by Netanyahu’s radical right-wing government. The move, coupled with…