Word: histadrut
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...Peretz's 10 years heading the Histadrut, Israel's labor federation, he squeezed successive governments with general strikes and, after a falling out with Barak, formed a breakaway faction in parliament. It was the grass-roots devotion of union activists and the faction's supporters that earned him his surprise win last week. Peretz promises a more conciliatory approach to the Palestinians than Sharon's. Opponents lampooned him during the campaign, saying it was impossible to imagine the roughhewn Peretz meeting with President Bush to discuss the peace process. But Peretz told TIME that he'll cut out the middleman...
...eulogy for Netanyahu's fallen-hero brother Jonathan is reprinted in Hebrew textbooks. Another possible standard bearer is Haim Ramon, 46, the outgoing Minister of Interior who proved his vote-winning talents in 1994 when he broke party ranks and defeated the official Labor candidate for head of the Histadrut, the federation of trade unions. But this savvy lawyer and complete political pro is still paying dues for his defection. Both aspirants are equally chubby, personable and ambitious...
Such a special-interest party could control the balance of power in Israel's splintered parliament -- and lead to a backlash from established voters. The first signs of resentment are already apparent. Last month the Histadrut labor federation virtually shut down the country for two days to protest government measures intended to raise money for immigration. Nonetheless, the 1991 budget earmarks $6.15 billion for absorption, nearly as much as for defense, and imposes a 5% income-tax surcharge and a 2% increase in the value-added tax. For Israelis, many of whom already pay one-third of their average...
...plan calls for deep budget cuts, lower wages and sharply higher prices for food, education and health care. At the same time the shekel has been devalued by 13%. The measures, approved by the Cabinet last week, drew acrimonious opposition from the Histadrut labor federation and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin. So vociferous was the army in protesting a proposed $193 million cut in the military budget that Peres ultimately agreed to trim only about $66 million...
...shift to the right is the appointment of Likud's Moshe Arens, the hawkish former Ambassador to Washington, to replace Labor leader Shimon Peres as Foreign Minister in Shamir's 26-member Cabinet. Peres, under strong pressure from his party to ensure a government bailout of the troubled Histadrut labor federation and the kibbutz movement, the twin pillars of Labor support, opted instead for the finance portfolio. Peres insists he will continue to speak out on foreign policy issues as leader of the Labor Party. But it will be Shamir and Arens who finally give Israel one official voice...