It's been 50 years since the state first had the opportunity to seize the ports from the hands of controlling interest groups. The previous incarnation of the Labor Party (Mapai) controlled the Haifa port, and struggled in every possible way to resist giving up the property during it's most influential time in the government. The ensuing tale of political warfare was one of the most fascinating stories Israel has ever known. Since those days, former prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon, and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have all tried to wrest the Ashdod port from the powerful labor unions. All three were defeated. In a take on Elia Kazan's 1954 American film "On the Waterfront," local powers and party interests joined forces and delivered a powerful blow, the labor strike, creating a vital monopolistic machine that would control the only gate in and out of the state -- victory was practically guaranteed. In 2013, the government's final battle has begun. If the government fails this time, no one will dare try again. Transportation, National Infrastructure and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz and Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett are leading the advance, which is absolutely necessary for the economy. The government will not be able to succeed in this endeavor if it doesn't stand united, or if ministers go out of their way to discourage each other. What will happen instead is a cowardly retreat. Antitrust Authority General Director Prof. David Gilo has already declared that (pending a hearing) the ports' management has created a near-monopoly. The declaration paves the way for private investors to bid on tenders for new quays that would not be under the labor unions' management. The price of importing and exporting will go down substantially only if there is greater competition at the ports. To fulfil the demands of the middle class encamped on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and protesting outside Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom's respective homes, a bridgehead must be established on the beachfront to return national sovereignty to the ports of Haifa and Ashdod. The government needs to prepare in detail, albeit quickly and in a determined way, how it is going to scuffle with the unions. Jerusalem must offer generous solutions out of good intentions, without sacrificing its timetable. Compromise is better than battle, but compromise can only be achieved if the union chiefs know that this time the government is acting tenaciously, persistently, firmly. The government must be fair toward port workers, but it must not fear confrontation. The working public has the right to strike. Police, the Israel Security Agency and the Israel Defense Forces don't have this right, and it makes sense to limit the striking power of the essential monopolistic services provided by the Israel Electric Corporation and the Ports Authority. These kinds of labor disputes should be legally solved through arbitration (similar to Zeev Jabotinsky's system). A realistic arrangement would see the ports under the IDF's supervision. Taking the needs of port employees (even if their wages are unreasonable), and the excessive family takeover of the ports into consideration, is better than Jabotinsky's famous anti-Histadrut article "Yes, let's break [them up]!" Still, it's up to the labor unions to understand that the ports are state property, and that the state has no intention of giving them up.
