Netanyahu Officially Requests Removal of Benny Haddad from Likud Membership

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a formal petition to the Likud party's supreme court, requesting the removal of Benny Haddad, chairman of the Airport Employees Committee, from party membership, following a strike at Ben Gurion Airport that led to widespread disorder.

The petition comes after Netanyahu previously announced his intention to remove Haddad, who denied having declared any strike.

The petition accuses Haddad of orchestrating the action, arguing that the timing was not coincidental, as it occurred the day after Netanyahu and the Minister of Transport visited Ben Gurion Airport.

The petition stated: "The incident occurred the day after the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport visited Ben Gurion Airport, and it is clear that the timing was chosen to harm the minister, the Prime Minister, and the Likud party."

Netanyahu's move opens the door to another internal confrontation within Likud, as the prime minister seeks to take party disciplinary action against Haddad amid fallout from the Ben Gurion Airport crisis.

Following the strike at Ben Gurion Airport and the decision to remove him from the Likud party, Benny Haddad, head of the Airport Workers Committee, sent a letter on Friday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Transport Miri Regev, urging them to find an urgent solution to the severe shortage of staff at the airport.

Haddad warned that continuing the staffing crisis would make it extremely difficult to manage the upcoming Passover holiday season, which typically sees a sharp increase in travel activity.

In the opening of his letter, Haddad strongly criticized what occurred at Ben Gurion Airport, after check-in offices were closed and thousands of travelers were left unable to complete their travel procedures, describing the event as "a disgraceful and shameful incident."

He said what happened "was not fate or destiny, but a direct result of a reprehensible, unilateral, indifferent, and irresponsible administrative decision toward the Israeli public and its workers."

Haddad's letter arrives amid an ongoing airport crisis that disrupted passenger traffic, under mounting pressure to resolve the workforce shortage before the holiday season begins, when high travel volumes are expected.