Israel is facing a general strike on Monday as the national labor union federation, the Histadrut, called on workers to stay home and to protest in favor of a hostage deal following Hamas’s cold-blooded murder of six hostages last week.
The union has said that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must immediately reach a deal to return the remaining 100 or so hostages, one-third of whom are thought to be dead. But Netanyahu cannot force a deal: he must deal with Hamas, at least indirectly, which has rejected every deal thus far, including those that have basically reflected the terrorist organization’s own bargaining positions, and to which Israel has warily agreed.
The families of the Israeli hostages are themselves split. Many support a hostage deal — even if it means granting Hamas an effective victory in the war. Some blame the Netanyahu government for the murders of the hostages, claiming that his insistence on Israel’s retention of the Gaza-Egypt border — key to stopping Hamas from smuggling weapons and terrorists into Gaza — led to Hamas rejecting an agreement and ultimately murdering the hostages.
