The confrontation over the strike at Ben Gurion Airport has spilled into the political arena. Channel 12 commentator Amit Segal launched a sharp attack Thursday against Israel Airports Authority workers’ committee chairman Pinchas Idan, calling on Likud to expel him and his supporters from the party.

Segal published a series of sharply worded posts throughout the day in response to the chaos at the airport. He initially wrote that the workers’ committee had “chosen to launch a surprise strike on one of the busiest days of the year,” and later called Idan a “bully and a criminal,” calling for his “corrupt union” to be dismantled.

After Ben Gurion Airport employees returned to full operations, Segal highlighted what he said was a contradiction in Idan’s account.

“Pinchas Idan, the liar, initially claimed there was no strike, and now he has ordered everyone back to work,” Segal wrote. “Why return to work if there was no strike?”

Segal also addressed claims surrounding the involvement of Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David.

“The Histadrut is not denying that Pinchas Idan had previously received the blessing of Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David,” Segal wrote.

Bar-David himself later claimed that he had been surprised by the events and had contacted Idan only after the disruptions had already begun.

Segal noted that Idan had previously been a Likud candidate for the Knesset and, according to Segal, commands an organized group of party members. He then directly called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take action against him within the party.

According to Segal, Section 21(a)(9) of the Likud constitution allows Idan and his supporters to be expelled from the party for harming the movement’s values.

“If Netanyahu wants to fight him, the simplest step is to expel him and his people from Likud,” Segal wrote.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)