The National Labor Court convened early Wednesday morning to hear a last-ditch attempt to prevent the general strike set to begin at 9 A.M. Wednesday, which threatens to cripple Israel's air and sea ports.

The hearing, which was set to begin at 1 A.M. following a request by the state prosecution, was delayed late Tuesday three times.

The Histadrut labor federation declared Tuesday evening that the public sector strike would go into effect across the country at 6 A.M. to protest the local authorities' failure to pay the wages of 3,700 employees.

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"Until each and every one of the 3,700 employees receives the wages he is due in his bank account, we will not terminate the strike," said Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini during a press conference at his office.

"I want to ask for the public's forgiveness for the fact that we are forced to harm them, this is not our intention," Eini added. "We will do all we can in order to make things easier for the public."

The secretary-general of the Histadrut's professional workers branch, Tzachi Tabakman, said the labor federation had made an effort to minimize inconvenience to the public.

Tabakman said the industrial action would hit all local authorities except departments dealing with special education. In addition, all government ministries, with the exception of the Defense Ministry, will be closed to the public. The National Insurance Institute, the Employment Service, the Israel Land Administration, the vehicle licensing office, and the land registration office will also be shut.

Train services will also be affected, and no planes will land or take off at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Sea ports will also be shut down.

Bank of Israel employees will impose sanctions but ATMs will be restocked with cash. Health and security services, banks and the stock exchange will operate as usual.

Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson blasted the Histadrut for the strike, saying that the measure was unneccessary as the issues surrounding the action were being addressed.

"All local authority employees, as the prime minister promised, will receive their wages by Passover. I see no reason to hold the economy hostage."

During a joint press conferense with Hirchson, Interior Minister Roni Bar-On said that the strike was completely unjustified, adding that the interior and finance ministries have made every effort over the past four months to resolve the issue of unpaid salaries.

He stressed that the process had been carried out under the supervision of the National Labor Court president.

"The information given to Histadrut Chairman Eini is incorrect and inaccurate," said Bar-On. "Someone is misleading them and needs to put the numbers on the table."

Bar-On said that the government has allocated over NIS 175 million during the past four months, adding that a solution has yet to be found for only 625 employees in 10 local authorities.

The interior minister said he has reached an agreement with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert whereby mayors and local authority heads could be removed should their employees' wages be withheld for more than two months. Bar-On added that Interior Ministry summoned nine local authority heads for a special hearing before the ministry's director general.

The Histadrut claims that Tuesday's hours-long questioning of the finance minister on suspicions of fraud and embezzlement had hindered the talks on reaching a solution.

Despite strike, thousands of England fans to land in Israel
All flights from England will be allowed to land in Ben-Gurion Airport, general strike notwithstanding, a senior Histadrut official told Haaretz last night after attending a meeting between Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini and the heads of large unions.

The chairman of the Israel Football Association, Avi Luzon, succeeded on Tuesday in persuading Eini to permit the English fans to land in Israel despite the strike, contrary to the labor federation chief's earlier decision to allow only the English team to land.

On Tuesday, Eini met Airport Authority Chairman Pinhas Idan, and the two decided not to deny thousands of England fans to attend the game in Ramat Gan.

"We're expecting from 5,000 to 7,000 English fans to arrive in an airlift from England," a senior Histadrut official said. "We will prepare accordingly. They will all be well treated in spite of the strike. We won't tarnish Israel's image in Europe and won't hinder the huge celebration planned here," he said.

Eini: Strike could be averted
The labor federation chief said earlier Wednesday that the strike would only be averted if all of the employees' salaries were paid immediately.

"Over the course of the day we will examine closely, through the workers, whether or not the treasury fulfills its promise to solve the wage crisis," Eini told Army Radio.

He insisted that the Histadrut would not be mollified by a partial solution, adding that some of the workers have not been paid in more than a year.

Sources at the treasury say that funds have already been transferred to the local authorities in question. In reality however, some of the money transferred by the treasury has been diverted to pay off debts rather than pay off employees.

Last week, the government shot down a proposal submitted by the Hadash party suggesting that new accounts be set up for local authorities that would be designated only to pay employee wages, and thus the funds could not be commandeered by creditors.

There are currently no negotiations between the Histadrut and the treasury.

"This problem could be solved in days, but not by tomorrow, when the Histadrut is threatening to strike," a treasury official said Tuesday, ahead of the prior the Histadrut strike declaration. Officials said it would take weeks to overcome the crisis and pay all the workers.

But, said a Histadrut official, "Olmert promised us on March 6 that he would solve the wage crisis in the local authorities within a few days."

"Due to his promise we put off at the last moment the strike we had been planning. We gave him an extension of more than two weeks to solve the problem but he failed do so, other than making minor improvements. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Even if the treasury and Interior Ministry keep their promises, there will still be nine local authorities whose workers have not been paid," a Histadrut official said.

Bar-On told Army Radio earlier Tuesday that most of the unpaid workers would receive their wages by that evening. He said the only employees who would not be paid are those working in local authorities that have run up especially large deficits.