Following five months of sanctions, employees of the Israel Foreign Ministry are returning to their jobs on Thursday morning, 25 Menachem Av 5773, at least for the time being. The sanctions had widespread implications in Israel and around the world. The sanctions included cessation of many essential services, including the issuance of diplomatic passports, regular passports, visas as well as compromising embassy and consular services around the world.

Due to the intervention of the National Labor Court on Tuesday afternoon 24 Menachem Av, the sides agreed to enter into arbitration in the hope of ending the strike. If the sides deadlock a renewed strike may result, but for now, there is optimism as employees will be returning to their desks to begin digging out of the backlog.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)