Histadrut

The country’s biggest union, Histadrut, was behind the action, and in the end, Netanyahu blinked—at least temporarily.

And unions aren’t as baked into our culture as they are in, say, Israel—where Histadrut was fundamental to the founding of the country.

The call for a one-day strike on Monday was issued by Israel's biggest labour union, Histadrut, whose leader, Arnon Bar-David, said the country was getting "body bags instead of a deal".

"We are getting body bags instead of a deal," said Arnon Bar-David, chairman of the Histadrut, which represents around 800,000 members.

“Government offices haven’t been functioning for a year now, so obviously they can’t cope with emergency situations. They wasted a whole year on nonsense,” Arnon Bar David, head of Israel’s Histadrut trade union, told Army Radio.