Local Authorities Suspend Strike

After one day of a strike that shut down schools and kindergartens across the country, the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel (FLAI) agreed Wednesday to go back to work, at least until negotiations with the Finance Ministry resume on Sunday.

“It is legally forbidden to make agreements and discuss budgetary allocations during the 24-hour period before the budget vote, so we couldn’t talk about the money anyway, hence we stopped our negotiations with the Finance Ministry and agreed to end the strike until Sunday. The sides will reconvene and find a satisfactory solution to us both,” a representative of the FLAI told The Jerusalem Post.

It appeared that a resolution to the dispute has been tentatively agreed upon, and prospects of a positive outcome early next week are good.

At issue are proposed budget cuts of 180 million shekels from the municipalities, according to the head of the FLAI, Modiin Mayor Haim Bibas.