Middle East

Even McDonald’s Has Joined Israel’s Strike Against Netanyahu’s Judicial Overhaul

NOT LOVIN’ IT

Workers across Israel brought the country to a standstill with a mass walkout.

Israeli customers at a McDonald’s restaurant in Tel Aviv, March 2, 2006.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Colleges, airports, and now even McDonald’s are closing across Israel on Monday amid a general strike in protest of plans to change the country’s judicial system. After mass protests over the weekend against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu’s proposals, workers piled more pressure on the coalition government with a mass walkout. McDonald’s announced its restaurants in Israel would start closing starting at noon local time, and a nationwide shutdown would be completed two hours later. The shutdown comes after the Israel Airports Authority confirmed that all departing flights from the country’s main airport, Ben Gurion, would be grounded, and Israel’s top colleges decided to close. Local media reports on Monday morning suggested Netanyahu would make a TV announcement to drop the planned overhaul, but the broadcast has since been postponed.

Read it at The Times of Israel