Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday addressed the surprise strike and severe disruptions at Ben Gurion Airport, issuing a sharp warning.
“Ben Gurion Airport will remain open and continue operating as usual. Anyone who stands in the way will be sent home," Netanyahu said.
The Prime Minister’s message came after hours of chaos at the airport, during which check-in counters were closed and severe disruptions were reported in the handling of passengers and baggage.
At 2:00 p.m., the airport was closed, and beginning at 3:00 p.m., arrivals and departures gradually resumed in accordance with a reorganized flight schedule.
Against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s remarks, sharp criticism has been voiced online against Israel Airports Authority Workers’ Committee chairman Pinchas Idan, who is also a member of the Likud Central Committee. The criticism follows the events at the airport and the disruptions that affected thousands of passengers.
The crisis erupted after workers launched a surprise strike, with the four companies providing ground services at Ben Gurion Airport halting their handling of passengers. The action was a work-to-rule strike that, among other things, brought operations at check-in counters to a halt on one of the busiest days of the year.
Nearly 100,000 passengers are currently passing through Ben Gurion Airport each day on approximately 600 flights. During the disruptions, exceptional congestion developed, and passengers were forced to wait for hours to receive their luggage.
Zohar Shnur, who landed at Ben Gurion Airport, described the scenes to Arutz Sheva.
“There are thousands of people here, thousands of people around all the baggage carousels. Elderly people are sitting on the floor, on plastic sheets, and waiting. They’re talking here about waits of four hours for baggage on some flights."
“Several flights are already listed on each carousel, but the bags still aren’t coming out. I fly a lot, and I have never seen anything like this," she said, adding that passengers and air crews had not received sufficient information about what was happening.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who is on a private vacation in Morocco, instructed the Israel Airports Authority management to petition the Labor Court against the workers’ committee.
She called the action a “bullying strike" and declared, “Whoever made the decision to take the citizens of Israel hostage will pay the price."
Minister Bezalel Smotrich also sharply criticized the unions.
“It cannot be that forceful communist unions strand the citizens of Israel and take them hostage," he said. “The days when a group of functionaries could paralyze an entire country are over. It is time to dismantle these organizations of anarchy."
The Histadrut’s Transportation Workers Union rejected claims that an instruction had been issued to halt operations.
“No instruction whatsoever was issued to stop work," the union stated.
“The attempt to portray the chaos at Ben Gurion Airport as the result of a ‘surprise strike’ is contrary to the truth and diverts attention from the real failure: a severe and ongoing manpower shortage and inadequate preparation for the summer rush," it added.
The Israel Airports Authority, however, maintained that the disruptions were carried out “at the instruction of the workers’ committee."