Israeli Labor Court Orders Union To End Strike Over Hostage Killings

An Israeli labor court ordered striking union workers back to their jobs on Monday after a walk out triggered by the slayings of six hostages in Gaza caused disruptions across the country.

The leader of the Histadrut, Israel's largest union, said it would abide by the ruling but called the strike "an important move and I stand behind it," the Times of Israel reported.

"Hundreds of thousands of citizens voted with their feet," Arnon Bar-David said. "We proved that with regard to the fate of the hostages there is no right or left, only life or death."

In its ruling, the court in Tel Aviv accepted government arguments that the strike was politically motivated and unrelated to workers' rights, the Times of Israel said.

The court order doesn't affect related strikes called by the Israel Business Forum, which represents about 200 large companies, university presidents and several major municipalities, including Tel Aviv, the Times of Israel said.

The job action came on the second day of protests sparked by Sunday's recovery of the bodies of six of the roughly 250 people kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attacks that led to the latest Mideast war.

Demonstrators are demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately strike a deal with Hamas to free about 100 remaining hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Police arrested seven protesters for allegedly using smoke grenades to snarl traffic in Tel Aviv on Monday, CNN reported.

Monday's labor court ruling was a victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which petitioned the court in Tel Aviv to issue an injunction against the job action.

"We won't allow the Israeli economy to be harmed, serving the interests of [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Netanyahu called the strike a "disgrace" during a Cabinet meeting at which he said it was effectively "telling Sinwar, 'You murdered six people. Here we support you,'" the Times of Israel said, citing local news reports.

The court rejected the Histadrut's claim that Netanyahu's failure to strike a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas was damaging the economy and impacting workers, but noted that "the hostage issue, as well as the murder of the six hostages in recent days, rends all of our hearts."

The strike led to closures across the country, including a two-hour stoppage of outgoing flights at Israel's main airport, and the Histadrut said it was joined by banks, some large shopping malls and government offices, the Associated Press reported.

But the strike was ignored in some areas and it didn't appear to cause major problems, AP said.