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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