Israeli Municipal Workers attempt to shame Kadima into acting

One thing that has gotten very little play in the Western media since the disengagement from Gaza has been the constant rocket barrages lobbied at nearby Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip. To date, the Olmert Kadima government is too busy sending the Israeli forces to evict Jews from their homes rather than frame an effective response. Things have now deteriotated to the point where municipal workers in Sderot are threatening to strike and withdraw services until the Kadima government deals with the almost daily glaring security threats to their persons and children reports the Jerusalem Post:

The Sderot municipality announced on Tuesday its intentions to open a general city-wide service strike, effective as of this coming Sunday. The reason for the strike, according to municipality officials, is the government's shedding of its obligation to defend the city and the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip.

Kassams fell again in Sderot on Tuesday, even as members of the Knesset's State Comptroller Committee were fuming over the defense establishment's failure to provide adequate protection to communities in the Negev. If the strike goes into effect on Sunday, residents of the southern Kassam-plagued city will go without general and municipality-related services that the city offers them.

"Residents of the city will begin a struggle until they are given proper assurances regarding the safety of their children and the entire civilian population," said a municipality spokesperson. The committee's findings stressed the lack of protection in Sderot, where construction of security structures to protect half of city's kindergartens is still pending.

Sderot is located in the Negev region (for those unfamiliar with Israeli geography) and is not part of the disputed territories.