Israel’s Airports Authority said on Monday departing flights from the country’s main international airport in Tel Aviv were canceled after a strike called to protest the government’s planned judicial changes.
The head of the workers union at Ben Gurion Airport, Pinchas Idan, said: “I have ordered an immediate halt to takeoffs at the airport.”
The changed flight schedule is expected to affect tens of thousands of travelers en route to different destinations.
Israeli’s umbrella organization of trade unions, Histadrut, has called for a general strike amid ongoing protests against the proposed judicial reforms.
The Histadrut umbrella group represents more than 700,000 workers in health, transit, and banking among other fields.
“I am calling a general strike,” Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David said during a televised address. “From the moment this press conference ends, the state of Israel stops.”
“We have a mission to stop this legislative process and we will do it,” he said, vowing to “continue to fight.”
