Faced with the threat of a general strike to protest the proposed privatisation of Israel’s ports, the Netanyahu government has blinked.

According to this report in Globes, the Israeli Prime Minister phoned up the Histadrut and asked for a private, one-on-one meeting with Ofer Eini, the head of the country’s unions.

As a result of the meeting, the Histadrut has backed down from its threat to call a general strike and further talks are planned.

“Netanyahu apparently realized that he did not want a confrontation, especially when his government is so fragile,” a Histadrut source told “Globes” yesterday.