Israel was hit by a brief general strike that affected hospitals, banks, ports and the country’s main international airport

Israel was hit by a brief general strike on Monday that affected hospitals, banks, ports and the country's main international airport, but which ended after just four hours.
  
The strike shut down all government offices, universities, ports, post offices and the Tel Aviv stock exchange for most of the morning following a dispute over the working conditions of hundreds of thousands of contract workers employed by the government.
  
It also paralysed the country's main international airport near Tel Aviv for two hours from 8:00 am (0600 GMT), although operations resumed two hours later.

The strike, which began at 6:00 am (0400 GMT), had been due to continue indefinitely but its scope was limited to four hours following an all-night session by the National Labour Court which met after the collapse of talks between the powerful Histadrut trades union and the finance ministry.
  
In an early-morning ruling, the court ordered the Histadrut to resume talks with the treasury in order to find a solution to the issue of contract workers, and ordered both parties to report back on their progress by midday on Thursday.
  
Shortly after the strike ended, union boss Ofer Eini said the Histadrut would continue to fight for an end to the government's widespread practice of employing contract workers, who enjoy fewer rights and protections than civil service employees who are covered by collective bargaining agreements.