Israel's diplomats1 called an out-all strike over a long-running pay and conditions dispute on Sunday, shutting the country's 103 foreign embassies and jeopardising a forthcoming visit by the pope.
由于薪酬及工作条件长期令人不满意，以色列外交官们进行了彻底罢工，导致全国103个外国使馆关闭，也影响了即将到访的教宗行程。
The foreign
ministry2 employees union said it was ordering its 1,200 members to stop work indefinitely from 3pm after accusing the finance ministry of failing to take the diplomats'
grievances3 seriously following nearly a year of
haggling4.
It is the Israeli diplomatic service's first total shutdown since Israel was established in 1948 and threatens to bring the country's
diplomacy5 to a halt after it was already
curtailed6 by more limited industrial action that took effect earlier this month.
Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister,
condemned7 the strike as irresponsible" and "a
wretched（卑鄙的） decision and a display of a loss of control on union's part".
One
immediate8 effect will be to prevent Mr Lieberman,
noted9 more for his
confrontational10 approach than his diplomatic
tact11, from going to work after the foreign ministry headquarters in Jerusalem - just a few hundreds from the Knesset, Israel's parliament - also shut its doors.
Yigal Palmor, the foreign ministry spokesman - departing from his customary role of defending his country's official positions on the global stage - accused the government of refusing to negotiate seriously.
"The
treasury12 have shown us nothing but
indifference13 and
disdain14 and have left us with no strike but to go on indefinite strike," he said. "We have to at least get their attention. They seem only to give us the cold-shoulder and give the impression that they can't be bothered. As long as there is no
negotiations15, there will be no diplomatic service."
The diplomats are demanding an increase in monthly salaries, said to range between ￡1,049 to ￡1,570 a month, and compensation for their
spouses16 loss of
earnings17 for having to give up work when posted abroad.
An extended strike has the potential to cripple Israeli diplomacy since the foreign ministry is responsible for organising visits of incoming foreign dignitaries, as well as Israeli ministers' trips abroad.
It could force the Vatican to call off a two-day visit by Pope Francis to the Holy Land, scheduled for May 24 and 25. A Vatican advance team has already
postponed19 a visit intended to finalise arrangements for the the pontiff's arrival.
Even the limited foreign ministry sanctions in place since March 5 forced Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to cancel a "historic" visit to Latin America last week after diplomats refused to take the necessary measures.
Matthew Gould, the British ambassador to Tel Aviv, was publicly
rebuked20 by the foreign ministry union this month for failing to urge David Cameron to
postpone18 his trip until the dispute had been settled. The union accused Mr Gould of a lack of
solidarity21 by cooperating with alternative arrangements made by the Israeli government to ensure Mr Cameron's visit went ahead.
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