The nationwide general strike in Israel is set to conclude at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) today, according to Nir Steinberg, spokesperson for Histadrut, the country\u2019s largest labor union. The strike, which has seen widespread participation across various sectors, was sparked by public outrage over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s handling of the hostage crisis and the absence of a ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n
Protesters have been vocal in their demands for the immediate return of hostages held by Hamas since the attacks on October 7. The demonstrations have been marked by road blockages and widespread public discontent, highlighting the growing frustration with the government\u2019s response.<\/p>\n
Despite the significant public mobilization, the economic impact of the strike appears to be limited. Esteban Klor, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University\u2019s Institute for National Security Studies, noted that while small businesses in Jerusalem remained operational, the strike has not severely disrupted major economic activities. However, Klor warned that prolonged unrest could potentially amplify economic challenges if it leads to increased political instability.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s economy, already under strain from nearly 11 months of conflict with Hamas, faces further complications as it contends with a rising budget deficit and recent credit rating downgrades by major agencies. Fitch, alongside S&P and Moody\u2019s, has downgraded Israel\u2019s credit rating, predicting a budget deficit of 7.8% of GDP for 2024, up from 4.1% in 2023.<\/p>\n
In parallel, activist Shikma Bressler criticized Netanyahu for allegedly prioritizing coalition politics over the welfare of Israeli citizens. Bressler and other protest leaders argue that the government\u2019s failure to secure a hostage deal undermines the country\u2019s core values and its commitment to protecting its citizens. She emphasized that the recent protests transcend political affiliations, focusing on fundamental issues of solidarity and national integrity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Protesters have been vocal in their demands for the immediate return of hostages held by Hamas since the attacks on October 7. The demonstrations have been marked by road blockages and widespread public discontent, highlighting the growing frustration with the government\u2019s response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":35261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[18488,327,20136,11573,18337,316,9809,2121],"class_list":["post-35259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-anti-netanyahu-protests","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-hamas-captivity","tag-hamas-conflict","tag-hamas-israel-conflict","tag-israel","tag-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-labour-uninons"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/413"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35262,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35259\/revisions\/35262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}