Medical residents have agreed to postpone a mass resignation by 48 hours. Over the next two days, the 700 residents who were planning to quit beginning Tuesday will hold intensive marathon talks with the Finance Ministry over their salaries and conditions.
Hospital officials warned Sunday that the planned resignations could cause a medical catastrophe.
Professor Ehud Grossman of Sheba Medical Center told Arutz Sheva that he expected to be forced to close four of six wards.
The two-day delay was a compromise, agreed upon after residents rejected Chief Labor Court Judge Nili Arad's suggestion for a 10-day delay during which negotiations would go on.
Some residents said they would ignore the group agreement, and would quit beginning Tuesday. They expressed belief that it will not be possible for them to reach an agreement with the government either way.
The residents began their strike after an agreement was reached between the government and the Israel Medical Association to end a 158-day doctors’ strike. The residents felt they had been shortchanged in the agreement and that their terms of employment were even worsened by it.
An initial attempt at a mass resignation was ruled illegal, prompting hundreds of residents to file individual resignations instead.