Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Monday responded to the ongoing teachers' strikes, which are a response to the lack of progress with his Ministry regarding teachers' salaries.
At the start of Yisrael Beytenu's weekly meeting, Liberman said, "I suggest quitting the strike, at this moment, and from Sunday we will make a real, honest, and ongoing effort in order to reach an agreement that will be good for everyone."
"Take a bit of time, stop with the strikes, we are right now in the midst of a list of frantic negotiations, and I call on them to come to negotiations, without ultimatums and with open arms."
"The easiest thing, from my perspective, is to say that I agree with everything, end the issues with the teachers, the drivers, and the police officers. Despite the fact that there is pressure on me to do this, we will not run until we reach an agreement that is good for everyone. We are in a good situation relative to the economies of the world," he added.
On Saturday, Liberman made it clear that he would not negotiate teachers' salaries unless teachers would be willing to rethink their vacation schedules. The changes to vacations would be made so that the school year is more in line with the vacations offered by parents' workplaces.