Israel Newspaper Staffs Go On Strike

Employees of Haaretz have gone on an open-ended strike, while Maariv employees are burning tires outside their office building, due to the anticipated firing of nearly 2000 people in Maariv, as well as anticipated staff staff cutbacks at Haaretz.

This comes in addition, according to a report on Galei Tzahal, of staff firings that have already begun in the recent days at Globes, Yediot, and others.

The strike was timed to coincide with a special Directors meeting at Haaretz.

Some of the striking newspaper staff are demanding that the government bail out the newspapers, because of their "important role in safeguarding Israeli democracy."

In addition, there are new difficulties in the Makor Rishon acquisition of Maariv.  Maariv may be in more debt than previously disclosed, and it's sales projections are less than were previously estimated placing the deal in a precarious position. Shlomo Ben-Zvi is reportedly working on renegotiating the deal.

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