Former Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini announced today (Tuesday) that he will run for the Histadrut presidency against Arnon Bar-David, the current chairman, in the elections to be held on May 24. Eini headed the Histadrut for eight years until 2014. In a Twitter tweet, Eini wrote: “I’m back!”.
IM coming back!
– Ofer Eini (@ofer_eini) February 15, 2022
At the same time, Eini’s Facebook page was updated, adding in the “About” column a critique of the current leadership of the Histadrut: “In the last two years, Israeli society and the world have had to deal with a health-economic crisis. “The current leadership of the Histadrut has failed in its role, thus leading organized labor to one of its great crises. Eini decided that he could not stand aside – and decided it was time to restore the power and significance of the Histadrut.”
Prepared for the contest even before the official announcement
It was reported in Globes two weeks ago that even before he officially announced his return, Eini had already completed the preliminary preparation required to run. For this purpose, Eini’s associates have already formed a new faction – called the Sela faction – and a message has been sent to the Histadrut election committee about its intention to run in the general election.
Among the founders of Eini’s new faction are the veteran chairman of the Histadrut, Ariel Yaakovi, the dominant chairman of the Cellcom workers’ committee, Mia Yaniv, and the head of the Histadrut’s welfare department, who was fired in mid-January, Shalom Halevi.
Halevi is Moshe Kahlon’s representative in the Histadrut, as part of the All of Us faction. About a month ago, he was summoned to the House of Representatives of the Histadrut, where he was removed by Bar-David and the rest of the organization’s leaders from his position as head of the welfare department. The claim for dismissal was “violation of coalition agreements,” or in other words, cooperation with Ofer Eini.