Disruptions at Ben Gurion Airport have once again thrust Pinchas Eidan into the spotlight. As chairman of the Public Service Workers Committee at the Airport Authority, Eidan has effectively controlled the country’s main departure gateway for four decades, wielding extraordinary influence over one of Israel’s most critical infrastructure points. To thousands of airport workers, he is a stalwart defender of their rights and working conditions. Yet to significant sections of the public, he represents something more troubling: a powerful labour leader who has exploited his stranglehold on the airport to maximum advantage.

Eidan’s long tenure has made him one of Israeli politics’ most enduring power brokers, a figure whose ability to call strikes and disrupt travel has given him leverage far beyond typical union leadership. His influence extends into the highest corridors of power, where governments have found themselves forced to negotiate directly with him during industrial disputes. The contrast between how different constituencies view him reveals deeper tensions within Israeli society about labour rights, public interest, and the concentration of power in individual hands.

With Israel’s economy heavily dependent on tourism and international commerce, Eidan’s ability to halt airport operations represents genuine economic leverage. This profile examines the man who has effectively held the keys to one of the nation’s most vital chokepoints, exploring how a labour activist has maintained his grip on power through decades of political upheaval and social change.

Source: Ynet — Original article in Hebrew.