外交官罷工緻使以色列大使館關閉

Israel's diplomats 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.

The foreign ministry employees union said it was ordering its 1,200 members to stop work indefinitely from 3pm (1pm GMT) after accusing the finance ministry of failing to take the diplomats' grievances seriously following nearly a year of haggling.

It is the Israeli diplomatic service's first total shutdown since Israel was established in 1948 and threatens to bring the country's diplomacy to a halt after it was already curtailed by more limited industrial action that took effect earlier this month.

Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, condemned the strike as irresponsible" and "a wretched decision and a display of a loss of control on union's part".

One immediate effect will be to prevent Mr Lieberman, noted more for his confrontational approach than his diplomatic tact, 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 treasury have shown us nothing but indifference and disdain 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 negotiations, 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 spouses loss of earnings 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 postponed 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 rebuked by the foreign ministry union this month for failing to urge David Cameron to postpone his trip until the dispute had been settled. The union accused Mr Gould of a lack of solidarity by cooperating with alternative arrangements made by the Israeli government to ensure Mr Cameron's visit went ahead.週日，由於薪酬及工作條件長期令人不滿意，以色列外交官們進行了徹底罷工，導致全國103個外國使館關閉，也影響了即將到訪的教宗行程。

外交部工會表示，在財政部拒絕認真對待外交官們的要求近一年之後，工會已指示1200名成員從下午3時（北京時間下午1時）開始無限期停工。

這是自以色列1948年成立以來在外交服務上的第一次全面停工，該國的外交活動本就受到月初開始的罷工行動的不良影響，這次罷工更是使其外交活動出現停擺。

以色列外長阿維格多·利伯曼譴責罷工是不負責任“也是”一個錯誤的決策，認爲那同時也說明了工會對罷工情況已經失去了控制 。

利伯曼先生採取了激烈的應對方法而不是巧妙性地解決這件事，這種做法的明顯後果就是使設在耶路撒冷的外交部總部—— 距以色列議會短短數百米——也停止了運轉，利伯曼也被迫停止工作了。

外交部發言人伊加•帕爾默——從他一慣在全球舞臺上扮演的捍衛國家的角色中脫離出來——控告政府拒絕認真談判的行徑。

“財政部對我們只有冷漠和不屑，這讓我們別無選擇，只能進行無限期的罷工， ”他說， “我們至少必須獲得他們的注意，現在他們似乎對我們漠不關心，似乎他們是惹不起的。只要沒有談判，我們就不會再提供外交服務。 ”

外交官們都要求增加月薪，說應該漲到每月1049英鎊到1570英鎊，並應就外交官伴侶因出國而被迫放棄工作所產生的損失進行賠償。

因爲外交部負責外國政要入境及以色列部長訪外的工作，所以長時間的罷工可能會危害以色列的外交政策。

這可能會迫使梵蒂岡取消定於5月24和25日的教皇弗朗西斯拜訪聖地的安排。梵蒂岡先遣隊爲了教皇拜訪的事宜已經推遲過訪問時間了。

自3月5日以來，外交官們的罷工迫使以色列總理內塔尼亞胡於上週取消了對拉丁美洲的“歷史性”訪問。

英國駐以色列大使馬修·古爾德因未能敦促卡梅倫推遲行程而受到了外交部工會的持續公開斥責，直到該問題得到解決。因古爾德先生配合以色列政府爲卡梅倫順利到訪所做出的調整，工會因此指責他缺乏團結性。