Debate over Histadrut’s Housing Construction on the West Bank Stops Short of Physical Violence

Verbal violence that nearly escalated to a physical clash marked a debate here over whether the Hevrat Ha’Ovdim, a Histadrut holding company, should continue to participate in the construction of housing for new settlers on the West Bank.

The Hevrat Ha’Ovdim Council met to consider the issue after Histadrut decided reluctantly last week to continue construction work on the West Bank in order to avoid unemployment for its members. The matter was referred to the trade union federation’s Central Committee which was urged to take a final stand within two months.

But disorder reigned at the Council meeting where Ram Cohen, representing the small leftwing Sheli faction, accused Likud, a minority within Histadrut, of following an expansionist policy on the West Bank. Histadrut must have nothing to do with such a policy, Cohen said. He maintained the construction work on the West Bank was at the expense of urgently needed housing for poor people in Israel.

When Likud delegates tried to shout him down, Cohen retorted: “You buy election votes, you are stock market speculators, you are bourgeois parasites, you are robbers, robbers, robbers.”