The Histadrut has authorized workers at the Mekorot water provider to begin sanctions, in protest over the government's refusal to allow the company to enter the area of water purification and desalination. A subsidiary of Mekorot, called Mekorot Yizum, was set up specifically for this purpose, but the government has refused to give permission to the company to set up a desalination plant in Ashdod. According to the Histadrut, this is a violation of labor contracts, and the sanctions are justified.

The union said that workers had surrendered several benefits in order to ensure that Mekorot could have a toehold in the desalination business, in order to protect their jobs, as more of Israel's water use shifts to purified and desalinated water in the coming years.