ISRAEL – Strike at Ministry of Foreign Affairs
As of Tuesday 4 March, staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Israel and overseas have gone on strike, and are not issuing visas or providing any consular services.
Further Details and Background
According to MFA's press release, published on Wednesday evening, Israel's diplomats will also no longer engage with foreign representatives or take care of official visits of any kind. They will, however, make exceptions where lives are in danger or bodies need to be returned to Israel for burial.
The strike is part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, and follows the failure of a seven-month mediation process between MFA and the Finance Ministry. MFA workers previously went on strike last summer. It is not known how long the current strike action will continue.
Action Items
- Note extended processing time for visas for Israel, and factor in several weeks’ additional lead time.
- It is not yet known when the strike will end, and note that when it does, it will take some time for matters to get back to normal, as there will be a large backlog of cases.
