This was the fifth strike for Jihad Akel since he became head of the Histadrut labor federation situation room. On Tuesday night, as the general strike was about to begin, Akel went to his home in the Negev town of Arara to take a short nap, before returning to the Histadrut's Tel Aviv headquarters at dawn to man the phones.

The ritual of complaints is the same with each strike, and Akel is used to them all. This time, though, embittered patients were among the complainants. While the Health Ministry had not been involved previously, it was included this time in the general strike, which was suspended after one day yesterday when an agreement in principle was struck between the two sides.

"Those are the toughest questions," said Akel. "[The patients] don't know what to do. One asks if the operation he was supposed to undergo is taking place. One asks about his physical therapy. These are particularly weak people, who don't know where to turn."

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In past strikes, the situation room feared getting calls from people who were planning to travel abroad. They would curse, scream and threaten lawsuits. The leaders of the struggle learned that it's easy to lead Israelis in any direction - even into an unnecessary war - as long as no one tries to make them stay in the country.

When the Histadrut's management gathered this week to announce the strike, it saw before it the airport's runways, check-in counters and waiting areas. It knew that the fate of the strike depended on the airport.

"It was clear that we would take the airport out of the strike," sighed Akel, who says that a few hours before it all began, he received an e-mail that made him uneasy. Shibolet Shofet-Adelman, of Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra, who describes herself as a socialist, represents the country as an emissary in Melbourne. "I get ready to visit my children and my family, whom I haven't seen for nearly a year," she wrote. "And suddenly, a strike! With all my socialist understanding, I can't understand and support this!! I can't. The tears and the frustration won't let me ..."

After the news broke that the airport would not shut down, however, she wrote: "Be strong and courageous!"

Culinary revolution

Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini won the support of the workers in the Histadrut building with the help, in no small way, of a culinary revolution that he helped foment there. A restaurant for the building's workers opened about a month ago on the ground floor: an elegant space with varied dishes and fruit juice on tap, where a full lunch costs only NIS 7 (less than $2).

The slightly stooped backs of the workers straightened up; from now on they would be like employees at any other self-respecting workplace. Not only high-tech types, but also workers at an institution with a reputation for being an archaic throwback, can expect to enjoy good food.

This wasn't the first time the idea of opening a restaurant for Histadrut employees made its way to the desk of the labor union's chairman, but under Amir Peretz it never reached the point of being discussed. Eini gave the green light to the project as soon as he took up the position, and even now, a month after the restaurant's opening, the workers have a hard time hiding their pride and excitement.

New allegiances

Eini and Peretz aren't talking to one another right now. For years they marched side by side, with Peretz considered the uncontested leader of the workers, and Eini, his uncontested deputy. In positions that required friendship and loyalty above everything else, the two, together, became one of the state's centers of power.

Eini was in charge of the Histadrut's army of voters, which assured Peretz's victory in his fight for the Labor Party leadership in 2005, and Peretz paid Eini back by turning over to him his seat in the Histadrut - without elections. None of the Histadrut leadership is sure of exactly what the two are fighting about now, but the prevailing opinion is that even after giving up his job there, Peretz has continued to see the Histadrut as his domain and Eini as a puppet he can operate at will.

For instance, Eini was informed one day that historian Muki Tsur was waiting to be appointed chairman of the Lavon Institute for Labor Research, a Histadrut institution. "How is it that I don't know about this?" asked Eini.

"Amir is the one who approved the appointment," he was told.

An angry Eini responded: "But Amir doesn't work here any more."

When Peretz moved to the Defense Ministry, in 2006, "he was sure that Ofer would be his loyal soldier," a senior Histadrut worker said this week. "He sent him instructions via his assistants, until Ofer got insulted and rebelled."

In the latest Labor primary, held in June, Peretz found himself without the backing of the Histadrut's many soldiers. Nearly all of them switched their allegiance to Eini - and in addition, to Ehud Barak, who ran against Peretz in the first round of the race and replaced him as party leader and defense minister.

Unnatural connection

Even though the airport was excluded from the strike when it began on Wednesday, the threat that it would join made some people angry at the Histadrut. Worried about the threat, Dr. Zvi Marom, CEO of BATM Advanced Communications, which is involved in fiber optics, among other things, canceled his reservation on a flight to London, where he was supposed to appear at the company's annual shareholders meeting. Marom was angry at Eini for thinking about playing games with the airport, but he was even more irritated at Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association.

The weapon of the workers' representative is the strike, while the job of the manufacturers' representative is to make sure that weapon gets used only as a last resort. Marom was under the impression that his representative did not make any particular effort to carry out his task, and he was not the only one who felt that way.

Marom was particularly upset about the overt friendship between Eini and Brosh. "This is not a natural connection, and it damages the vital, delicate balance between both sides," he said. "This has never happened before - the Manufacturers Association joining up with the Histadrut and giving it such wholesale support. The strike weapon has caused incredible damage to manufacturers. I suspect that this stems from the deep personal connection between Brosh and Eini."

Marom said he had no problem with the workers' demands and was aware of the significant erosion in the salaries of public- sector workers. "One can argue over the size of the public sector, but as soon as you hire a worker, you have to give him a reasonable salary," he commented. As a manufacturer, he added that he has also learned to appreciate the rare use Eini makes of strikes.

"Mr. Eini is not hot-tempered like his predecessor and doesn't shoot immediately, but maneuvers with the weapon of strike threats in a sophisticated way," said Marom. "He realizes the tremendous value of the public support of a strike."

The British stockholders of BATM, meanwhile, have gotten used to the Histadrut's mood swings - but, noted Marom, they're not exactly waiting in line to join its ranks.