Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a meeting with the finance and interior ministers and the Union of Local Authorities late Saturday, in an eleventh-hour effort to prevent the largest ever strike by Israeli cities' local authorities, due to begin Sunday morning.
All of Israel's local authorities are expected to begin the open-ended strike Sunday except Jerusalem, Haifa and the Haifa suburb of Nesher. The action would take place despite efforts to head it off on Friday at a meeting between the ULA and the interior and finance ministers.
In the negotiations, treasury officials accused ULA chairman Shlomo Buhbut of wanting to strike at all costs. For their part, the ULA blames Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz for not meeting any of their demands regarding education funding, social welfare funding, equalization payments to municipalities with revenue shortfalls and water rates.
The Education Ministry called on schools to open on Sunday despite the strike, and teachers' unions instructed teachers to report to work. At elementary schools, teachers are state employees, but many junior-high and high school teachers are employed by local authorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-launches-last-ditch-effort-to-stop-general-strike-across-israel-1.334688