The Prime Minister’s Office said that Prime Minister’s Office director general Harel Locker convened a meeting at his office to examining imposing “an arbitration obligation before a strike” at vital services. “The matter is on the agenda and is a top priority,” officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said. The office also said that Locker asked the Finance Ministry’s legal adviser to push the issue forward.

Nurses from Barzilai hospital hold a sign reading “we’ve collapsed mentally and physically” (Photo: Al Ittihad)

The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) was surprised at the official announcement that the Prime Minister’s Office issued last week, especially in view of Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s oral promise to Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini on the matter when the two men reached a deal on the state budget. Histadrut sources say that Lapid is the government authority on all matters relating to labor relations and, therefore, his promise not to promote legislation limiting the right to strike is tantamount to a government promise.

According the Prime Minister’s Office, “The prime minister supports moving this bill forward, and instructed a review of the subject. The prime minister also asked, and received, a professional opinion on the subject from the attorney general, who gave a favorable opinion.”