Left-wing leaders threaten general strike to ‘overthrow’ Israel’s government

Opposition Leader and former PM Yair Lapid calls for tax revolt and general strike if Netanyahu government moves forward with firing of internal security chief, while chief of The Democrats party calls for government overthrow.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s Opposition leader and the chairman of a far-left political party called for mass civil disobedience and a general strike should the Netanyahu government move forward with its plans to fire a senior security chief.

Speaking at a mass anti-government protest in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Saturday night, Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) told thousands of demonstrators that should the Israeli Supreme Court rule against the government’s decision to fire Shin Bet internal security chief Ronen Bar, he will call for a nationwide general strike and tax revolt.

Last Thursday, the government voted unanimously to fire Bar after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he had lost faith in the internal security chief.

Bar, who was already facing criticism over his agency’s failures to prevent the October 7^th invasion from Gaza, has also come under fire for launching an investigation into several media officials in the Prime Minister’s Office over their alleged financial ties to the Gulf state of Qatar – the primary financial patron of Hamas.

On Saturday, Netanyahu released a video message accusing Bar of staging the investigation in order to prevent his own removal from the Shin Bet.

Netanyahu denied claims from critics that Bar’s firing constituted a conflict of interest and was conducted in order to shield Netanyahu’s allies in the PMO from investigation.

“The firing was not done to prevent the investigation; the investigation was done to prevent the firing,” Netanyahu said, claiming that Bar had ordered the investigation, dubbed Qatargate, after Netanyahu pressed him for updates on the Shin Bet’s internal investigation into its own failures ahead of October 7th.

On Friday, a day after the government voted to dismiss Bar, the Supreme Court intervened, freezing the implementation of the order until a hearing on the matter, to be held no later than April 8.

Israeli law, codified by the 2002 Shin Bet Law, places the Shin Bet agency under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office, thus placing Bar under the direct authority of Netanyahu.

The prime minister is permitted to appoint and fire the director of the Shin Bet, though the premier is required to consult with the attorney general prior to appointments and to secure government approval to ratify terminations.

However, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has objected to Bar’s removal, claiming it constitutes a conflict of interest, given his role in the Qatargate investigation.

Lapid warned that should the court rule against Bar’s firing and the government move forward with it in defiance of the court’s decision, it would constitute a “red line” and an attempt to “destroy the country.”

Netanyahu is “doing everything to start a civil war here,” Lapid declared. “Netanyahu is openly pushing for it. We will not let it happen. We will fight for the country, but we will not let them destroy the country. They use the word ‘unity’ to silence us. It will not work for them. Silence in the face of a destructive government is not unity.”

Lapid threatened a general strike and tax revolt in such a scenario.

“If the October 7 government decides not to obey the court’s ruling, it will turn itself that day, that moment, into a criminal government.”

Then, Lapid continued, “the entire country must stop. The only system that is not allowed to stop is the security system. We will oppose any kind of refusal, but apart from that – everything.

“The economy needs to strike, the Knesset needs to strike, the courts need to strike, the local authorities need to strike, not only the universities need to strike, but also the schools. If we can organize a tax revolt, we will organize a tax revolt. We will not be accomplices in the destruction of democracy.”

Yair Golan a former IDF deputy chief of staff who now heads the far-left The Democrats party, called for the overthrow of the Israeli government.

“A government in Israel that refuses to obey the High Court of Justice’s ruling — is illegal and dangerous,” said Golan. “A government that refuses to obey the law — is a dangerous government that must be stopped. It must be overthrown.”