As Israeli society was rocked by an historic general strike in the midst of the genocidal war on the Palestinians and the threat of a regional conflagration, Socialist Struggle (ISA in Israel/Palestine) members distributed a leaflet, the text of which we publish below.
After The Warning Strike — Build Momentum For a Two-day Strike
Stop The War Now
“All for All”, Reconstruction & Welfare
Overthrow the Government of Blood
The killing of the 6 abductees after the cabinet of death’s decision to perpetuate the occupation of the “Philadelphi Route” brought mass outrage in Israeli society to a boiling point. Faced with the insistence by Netanyahu’s minority government and the far-right to torpedo a deal and continue the war — which was not intended to defend the personal security of millions of Israelis but the interests of the occupation and the rule of capital, at the cost of rivers of blood — mass outrage and the mass mobilization for action succeeded in bringing about an unprecedented general strike, in the context of a war crisis.
Dramatically, in a trend that began “from below”, an “unauthorized”, political general protest strike was organized, of the working class — Jews and Arabs and others. The subtext was, in effect, that the decisions of the ministers of the bloody government aimed at torpedoing a deal of cease-fire and of exchange of hostages and prisoners were illegitimate and that the government should be forced to sign a deal. Some 300,000 demonstrators flocked to Tel Aviv, the largest demonstration since 7 October, and one of the largest ever seen in Israeli society.
The Chairman of the General Histadrut (main labor union) Bar-David, who up until a moment ago, had dismissed for months the demonstrations that called on the leadership of the Histadrut to lead the mobilization of the decisive power of the organized power of the working class in favor of the fight for a “deal now,” finally folded under mass pressure, as happened with the general strike of March 2023. However, as then and now, Bar-David did not intend to lead a serious struggle with the aim of overpowering the government, but rather to demonstrate protest, to let off steam, while typically portraying himself as solely responsible for making decisions on behalf of hundreds of thousands of workers in the economy.
Some of the capitalists, who are benefiting from the fact that Finance Minister Smotrich and the bloody capitalist government are working to transfer the economic costs of the war to the working public, expressed support for the general protest strike, for “PR” reasons and recognizing that the strike was a means of increasing pressure on Netanyahu to be flexible on the issue of a deal, which in their view is ultimately necessary in the interests of stability. They were convinced that the strike would be a show to let off steam, so they were ready to sign up to it.
Other parts of the Israeli ruling class fear that legitimizing a political general strike against government policy, even in the context of a war crisis, will be turned against them in the framework of future social struggles. Thus, the liberal Attorney General, Baharav-Miara, the alleged champion of “democracy,” joined Smotrich in the move to end the strike by demanding the issuance of an anti-democratic injunction, which was indeed finally issued by the president of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Regional Labor Court. She ordered the end of the strike at 14:30, after 8.5 hours, in a ruling designed to legally deter any future political general strike.
The government will not fold after a few hours of protest strike.
Workers and youth went on strike and took to the streets in droves to bring about change in a horrific reality. This peak moment in the fight for a “deal now” must not give way to a relaxation of pressure, a return to routine and the idea that “nothing can be done” in the face of the power of the bloody government.
Following this important warning strike, the government should face a clear ultimatum of another two-day general strike as part of an outline for escalating steps in the struggle. Meanwhile, the workers’ committees (shop stewards) and unions should lead organized delegations of workers to strengthen the demonstrations. All unions should be demanded to adopt a clear outline of action and bring it to the Histadrut House of Representatives for discussion and decision, and in parallel bodies in other workers’ organizations.
This struggle belongs to the masses who participate in it. Thanks to mass mobilization, we even brought about a general strike. Now, meetings (virtual or in person) in workplaces, schools and campuses, and among protest groups, could help strengthen discussions assessing the situation and democratic decisions to take additional steps to build the struggle.
The struggle also puts the question of ending the war on the agenda. It is important to beware of right-wing voices that seek to reduce the horizons of the struggle to the question of a deal that supposedly has nothing to do with the continuation of the war. Without the end of the war and the withdrawal of military forces from the Gaza Strip, the very possibility of a deal is in doubt. And in any case, without an end to this war of destruction, the horrific bloody spiral of the last few months will continue with heavy costs. Tens of thousands have already perished, the entire Gaza Strip has been destroyed and almost its entire population has been displaced into tents, communities remain displaced in Israel and Lebanon, and meanwhile the government of Netanyahu and the far-right is the force pushing most wildly towards a regional war.
Therefore, this struggle must be unequivocal against the war — in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and throughout the region — and against the bloody capitalist government leading it, and for an alternative of socialist change in the face of bloody occupation and rule of capital.
Socialist Struggle demands:
- After the warning strike — build momentum for a two-day strike, as part of an escalating action plan. Yes to a strike to paralyze the Israeli economy, demanding the end of the war and the return of “all for all”, as part of an overall struggle against the bloody capitalist government of Netanyahu and the far-right and the agenda that serves the rule of capital and the occupation. Withdrawal of all military forces from the Gaza Strip entirely. An end to the attacks by military forces and settlers in the West Bank, an end to the policy of assassinations and show bombings, no to a regional war under the auspices of imperialist powers from the West and East.
- Expand demonstration and strike initiatives across national communities, on campuses and in the workplace. Fight attempts to limit the right to strike. Yes to mass protest and strike measures on both sides of the Green Line and throughout the region and globally to stop the bloodbath in Gaza, including union actions to stop armaments and demonstrations to end the imperialist political, economic and military support of governments and corporations around the world for the ongoing inferno. Yes to refusal of military service among the Israeli public, in protest to stop the war. Yes to supporting the call of the Palestinian labor unions for international solidarity actions and organizational measures to help stop the bloodbath in Gaza. Yes to Palestinian demonstrations and protest strikes, like the “dignity strike” of May 2021, on both sides of the Green Line, as part of a mass struggle democratically organized through elected action committees, including aspects of organized self-defense, for national and social liberation.
- End the political persecution and the thuggery of the Ben Gvir police which are intended to protect the government, to perpetuate national oppression and “divide and rule”, and to silence the struggles for a “deal now” and to end the war crisis and the bloodbath in Gaza. No to the revoking of democratic freedoms and the growing political persecution under the auspices of the war, oppose the enactment of Emergency Regulations. Demand that workers’ committees and all workers’ organizations protect workers who are being persecuted as part of a nationalist witch hunt against opponents of the war. Oppose the campaign of incitement and persecution of the National Union of Students — block the law to silence voices in academia.
- Close the detention and torture facility, the “Israeli Guantanamo.” An end to the mass imprisonment of Palestinians, including children, by military trial or without trial. An end to administrative detentions, torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners. An end to the legitimization, led by the Israeli far-right, of torture and rape, as part of a reactionary agenda that promotes extreme national oppression and the killing of Palestinians, as well as oppression on gender and sexual grounds, and the imposing of inequality and poverty.
- Increase preparation for self-defense measures in protest events. Yes to taking independent security measures and organizing for self-defense, and keeping the peace among protesters against the bloody capitalist government, the war and the occupation. Yes to defense committees on a democratic basis in the communities, and to cross-community cooperation at the local and national level. Yes to the right of organized self-defense of residents under military occupation and siege, including with the assistance of armed security, democratically organized through elected defense committees.
- An end to the bloodbath, an end to the mass starvation, for massive investment in the reconstruction of Gaza and all communities at the expense of the capitalists. A massive transfer of the supply of food, clean water, basic products and medical equipment at no cost to the residents of the Strip, as part of a massive investment in reconstruction under the democratic control of residents, and at the expense of the capitalists in the countries that funded the war. Expropriate the banks, the large marketing chains and key infrastructure in the Israeli economy into public hands, under democratic control and management by the working public, in favor of a massive investment in compensation and reconstruction on both sides of the fence.
- Peace requires struggle — for socialist change. An end to the war that seeks to restructure and perpetuate the dictatorship of the siege, the occupation, the settlements, poverty and the extreme national oppression imposed on millions of Palestinians. An end to the rule of capital. Fight for a root solution, based on an end to national oppression, equal rights to existence, to self-determination and to live with dignity, well-being and personal security for all. Yes to the struggle to establish an independent, democratic, socialist Palestinian state with equal rights, and to the struggle for democracy and socialist change in Israel and the region. Yes to two capitals in Jerusalem. Realization of a just solution to the refugee question through an agreed outline that would include recognition of historical injustice and the right of those who wish to return, while guaranteeing a life of welfare and equality for all residents.
- International solidarity in the struggles of workers and ordinary people throughout the region, as part of a struggle for socialist change and peace in the region, including the aspiration to establish a confederation of socialist countries in the region, which will promote democracy and personal security and harness the key resources, under democratic public ownership, for the common good, while guaranteeing equal rights for all nations and all minorities.
- Promote steps to build a class-based, internationalist and militant political alternative on the left, in the form of broad parties of struggle on both sides of the Green Line, which will strive to cooperate with each other in the struggle against the Israeli rule of capital and occupation and for socialist change, in the face of nationalist capitalist politics and imperialist aggression that defend oppressive regimes and a whole system of inequality and multiple crises, which gave birth to the current historical bloodbath.
