The man who holds the switch to Ben Gurion Airport: Who is Pinhas Idan
The surprise strike at Ben Gurion Airport turns the spotlight on the powerful union chairman who has held the position for four decades and is effectively closing the skies, not for the first time.
The chaos recorded on Thursday at Ben Gurion Airport has once again put one of the most powerful and veteran figures in Israeli labor relations at center stage: Pinhas Idan, chairman of the Israel Airports Authority workers' union. On a day when about 100,000 passengers are expected to pass through Ben Gurion Airport, disruptions in operations led to the halting of landings, long queues, and severe damage to the airport's operations. The Israel Airports Authority claimed that these were deliberate actions by the employees; Idan, for his part, claims that the employees are working under heavy pressure and a shortage of manpower.
Idan, 70, has headed the Israel Airports Authority workers' union since 1986, almost continuously. The union he leads represents about 6,000 employees and is considered one of the strongest in the economy — not least because he indirectly holds the key to the operation of Israel's central aerial gateway.
Idan was born and raised in Moshav Ahisamakh, the tenth child in a family of 11 children. In 1979, after his service in the Armored Corps, he was accepted for work at the Israel Airports Authority with the help of his brother, initially as a porter and driver. Within a few years, he moved to the workers' union. Since then, for four decades, Idan has turned the Authority's workers' union into one of the significant power centers in Israeli labor relations.
In between, he also managed to turn to politics: in 1998 he was elected mayor of Lod, a position he held for only two years, and afterwards returned to head the union. Later, he also competed for a spot on the Likud list for the Knesset and reached 19th place in the 2019 primaries in the Shfela district, but eventually withdrew his candidacy.
In 2023, as part of the general strike in protest against the judicial reform, Idan ordered the halting of takeoffs at Ben Gurion Airport. Later, he admitted that the strike was illegal, but explained that he acted in accordance with the instruction of the Histadrut chairman. This strike was considered particularly unusual, given the fact that Idan is identified as a member of the Likud central committee.
And so, almost four decades after taking office, and despite having passed the official retirement age, Idan still stands in a position that grants him exceptional power.
