Air traffic into and out of Israel came to an abrupt halt Thursday when workers staged a one-day strike at Ben-Gurion Airport.
Angered by cost-cutting proposals made by the Israeli government, workers from Israel Aircraft Industries shut down the airport as well as major roads throughout the country.
Thousands of IAI workers streamed out of the company’s headquarters and main industrial plant at the airport Thursday morning and occupied the airport runways.
The workers prevented a dozen international flights from taking off and succeeded in diverting three incoming flights to other airfields.
The only aircraft allowed to take off during the demonstration belonged to visiting U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
