TUFI’s monthly update looks at important trade union issues in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Middle East Peace Process, regional developments, domestic Israeli and Palestinian affairs and primary issues affecting British trade union policy on Israel

Guardian and Al Jazeera publish leaked documents detailing how close peace negotiations have come to succeeding

The Guardian newspaper and Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network began on 24 January to publish extracts from documents allegedly leaked from the Palestinian Authority’s Negotiation Support Unit.

Much of what has been released so far corresponds with previous comments from Israeli and Palestinian leaders about 2008’s peace negotiations, including on the issue of Palestinian refugees. In addition, the leaked papers seem to show that the Palestinian leadership was, in May 2008, willing to compromise on the future borders of a Palestinian state.

Whilst the Israeli negotiators are shown to have turned down a particular offer on Jerusalem, it is already in the public domain that later in 2008 the then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered the Palestinian president a Palestinian state on 100 percent of the land occupied in 1967 by means of land swaps.

Given recent Palestinian attempts to avoid returning to direct negotiations, it is also poignant that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is quoted in the paper as asserting that “Israelis want the two state solution but they don’t trust. They want it more than you think, sometimes more than Palestinians”.

US Middle East Envoy meets Israeli and Palestinian representatives to encourage new peace negotiations

US Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell met with Israeli envoy Yitzchak Molcho and Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on 14 January in an effort to encourage the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

The US administration has established a number of task forces to try and come up with new ideas to advance the peace process, involving experts such as the former national security advisors to Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton and Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren.

The Quartet on the Middle East (EU, US, Russia and the UN) are to meet on 5 February to discuss the future of the Middle East peace process and to discuss how recent events in the region, such as the collapse of the Lebanese government and the uprising in Tunisia, will affect negotiations to reach a peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli Labour party leaves the government to renew itself in opposition; former Labor leader and four MKs split to form new centrist party

Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced his departure from the Israeli Labour party on 17 January, along with four other former Labour Members of the Knesset (MK), in order to create a new party called Atzmaut (Independence). Following this split, Labour ministers Isaac Herzog, Avishay Braverman and Benjamin Ben-Eliezer resigned from the cabinet, meaning that all 8 of Labour’s remaining MKs are no longer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Barak’s new party, which now controls the ministerial portfolios recently held by Labour, said that Atzmaut will have a “centrist, Zionist, statist” agenda.

Labour MKs welcomed the split and exit from government as a chance to rebuild and renew the party. MK Isaac Herzog described it as a “positive change for the Labor Party…allow[ing] for a renewal of the party and its return to social action and true vision”. Referring to his bid for the party’s leadership he said “I will pull together new and rejuvenated forces and turn [the party] into a true political alternative”. MK Avishay Braverman also said “the crisis gives us the chance to rebuild a strong movement” which will have a greater focus on promoting peace with the Palestinians. Opposition and Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni described Labor’s exit from government as “a hopeful day for Israel” and “a bad day for the Netanyahu government”.

Israeli diplomats end strike

The Foreign Ministry workers' committee announced on 24 January 2011 that they have ended their strike after reaching an agreement with the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Ministry administration regarding new salary conditions.

As part of the three-year agreement, the diplomats will receive a salary increase, a bonus package and a special bonus for diplomats serving abroad, many of whom have said they cannot afford to live in their host countries on their current salaries.

The month-long strike, called to bring Foreign Ministry salaries in line with the Defense Ministry and the Mossad, disrupted diplomatic visits, diplomatic mail, assistance to Israelis abroad and relations with foreign ministries.

Nurses end sanctions over hospital crowding

Nurses in Israel ended their strike on 19 January 2011 after the Histadrut (Israeli TUC) and the Ministry of Finance agreed to add 190 new nursing positions at hospital wards.

The National Nurses Union called an end to their policy of refusing to admit patients to internal medicine and other crucial departments with over 100 percent occupancy after the Ministry of Finance admitted that the nurses' demand for more positions was justified.

Israel has one of the lowest proportion of nurses among OECD states, at 5.7 per 1,000 people, compared with the OECD average of 9.6 per 1,000 people. The National Nurses Union said that the new positions should help reduce some of the overcrowding in Israeli hospitals.

Histadrut and Employers agree on 12% increase in minimum wage

The Histadrut (Israeli TUC) has reached an agreement with the Federation of Israeli Economic Organisations, an umbrella employers’ organisation, on an increase to the minimum wage. Members of the federation include associations of manufacturers, hoteliers, farmers, security companies and others.

Under the agreement, the minimum wage would rise to 4,100 shekels (£700) in July 2011 and to 4,300 shekels (£740) in October 2012 from the current 3,850 shekels (£660). In a statement released on 2 January 2011, the two groups said they will ask the Industry, Trade and Labour Minister to extend the agreement to cover the entire economy. The Histadrut said that this agreement could help up to 600,000 workers who currently earn the minimum wage.

Intel invests a further $2.7Billion in Israel, which will create 1000 new jobs

US computer chip manufacturer Intel announced on 25 January that it is to invest £1.7 billion into its plant in Kiryat Gan in southern Israel. The two year investment plan will create 1000 new jobs at the plant and will enable Intel to develop 22 nanometre technology for semi conductors. Intel is one of Israel’s largest private sector employers, currently employing over 7000 people.

Israel to allow more Palestinians to enter country for work

Whilst the peace process remains stalled, positive developments on the ground continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 5 January that he supports a plan proposed by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry to increase the number of Palestinians from the West Bank allowed to work in Israel to 5,250.

In addition, a previously closed military zone in the West Bank is being dismantled, allowing tourists access to the site where Jesus was supposedly baptised along the shores of the River Jordan. The area will permanently open to the public with a special ceremony on 18 January, after 42 years of closure.

Poll shows that more Arab East Jerusalemites would choose Israeli citizenship over Palestinian citizenship

A poll of the Arab population of East Jerusalem for the Council on Foreign Relations published on 11 January has found that a higher number (35 percent) would prefer to be Israeli citizens than citizens of a future Palestinian state (30 percent), although the remaining 35 percent either had no answer or declined to provide it. Those Arab East Jerusalemites that said they would prefer to be Israeli than Palestinians citizens cited their reasons as freedom of movement, higher incomes, better job opportunities and better healthcare. Dr David Pollock, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute who supervised the survey, said that whilst he would presume the Israeli government would be pleased with these results, it does also point towards the need for the government to do more to reduce Jewish-Arab inequality in the city.

Former Israeli president jailed for rape; Israeli prime minister says no one is above law

Former Israeli president Moshe Katzav was found guilty of two counts of rape and sexual assault on 30 December and sentenced to sixteen years in prison. Katzav was forced to step down as president in 2007 after the allegations came to light. He denied all accusations, but the three judge panel who delivered the verdict said that his testimony was “riddled with lies”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that whilst “this is a sad day for Israel and its citizens” the court has shown that “each one of us is equal before the law”.

Whilst Moshe Katzav is planning to appeal the conviction opinion polls suggest that most Israelis approve of the judgment and think their former president received fair treatment.

Tel Aviv school documentary nominated for an Oscar

“Strangers No More”, a forty minute documentary about the daily life of the Bialik-Rogozin school in Tel Aviv, has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Films category. The film focuses on three of the pupils at the school, which has 800 pupils from 48 different countries. It explores issues facing immigration and asylum seekers in Israel. Keren Tal, the head teacher of the school, welcomed the news, saying “the school’s message of hope and the way it reminds us of our basic moral values as Jews will now be sent across the world”.

Artists and Workers against Racism

The Bread and Roses art exhibition opened on December 25 at the Minshar School of Art in Tel Aviv. The purpose of the exhibition was to raise funds for “Women and Work,” a project to place Arab women in agricultural jobs under terms of fair employment.

The exhibition’s popularity broke all its previous records: 550 works from more than 300 artists were exhibited and sales amounted to $150,000, about 60% more than the previous year. The exhibition showcased works by well-known Jewish and Arab artists alongside newcomers whose work was being exhibited for the first time.