JERUSALEM – Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday with union officials in a bid to stave off rising public anger and a general strike threat over spiralling food and petrol prices, officials said. During the talks with Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini and the heads of the manufacturers’ association and the local authorities’ union, Netanyahu laid out a package of cuts aimed at staving off public discontent over rising prices.
The emergency session was convened after union leaders threatened to call a general strike in protest at government inaction over rising prices. Over the past year, the price of bread has risen by 10 percent, petrol has jumped 13 percent and water has soared by a massive 134 percent, with the population also under pressure from a rise in housing and transportation costs as well as indirect taxes.
