JERUSALEM, Dec. 4 (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed Thursday to resolve a general strike that has paralyzed Israel. Before leaving for meetings in Europe, Netanyahu met with the chairman of the Histadrut labor federation, Amir Peretz, and Finance Minister Ya’acov Ne’eman regarding the strike by 700,000 workers, which has nearly shut the country down. As a result of the strike, there were reports that the body of at least one American who had wanted to be buried in Israel was stuck in Cyprus after the plane carrying it was diverted from Ben-Gurion Airport. The workers are protesting the finance minister’s refusal to honor pension and wage agreements signed with the previous Labor government, as well as plans to privatize government companies. Netanyahu said he had been unable to convince Peretz to end the strike, but that the sides had agreed to continue discussions. Peretz “did not say to me, `I am going back to work,’ but he heard my request for the workers to return to work,” Netanyahu told reporters. Peretz said he hoped that “we’ll succeed in closing the gaps that remain.” Netanyahu called the talks after overnight discussions Wednesday between the Histadrut and finance ministry representatives failed to make progress, and back-to-work orders issued to some workers by a national labor court were ignored.
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