New Delhi: Diplomats in the Israeli embassy in India joined the general strike called by the largest labour union conglomerate against the proposal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to overhaul the judiciary by giving unprecedented power to the parliament.However, due to the time difference, the call did not impact the functioning of the New Delhi mission, as the office hours were over when the instructions arrived.The firing of Defence minister Yoav Gallant for his demand to stop the legislative process for the controversial bill immediately triggered spontaneous street protests across the Israeli capital and other cities on Sunday night.In the morning, the Chair of Histradut, Israel’s largest umbrella group of labour union, announced a strike of historic proportions, stating that they will not allow the “country’s descent into the abyss”.Soon, a range of sectors – from transport, banking to health, across Israel started to shut down, paralysing the economy, even as the size of the street protests kept increasing. Israeli media had been reporting since morning that Netanyahu had agreed to freeze the polarising legislation, but there had been no announcements till now.Meanwhile, the social media accounts of Israeli diplomatic missions started to one by one announce that they had joined the strike called by Histradut.Starting with the embassy in the United States, Israeli diplomatic missions across the world, from Argentina to Italy and Estonia, posted notices of closure and that no consular services will be offered.Writing about the shutdown at the embassy, the Israeli ambassador to Chile added, “Our democracy will come out stronger.”Debido a la situación política en Israel la embajada de Israel en Chile se suma a la huelga nacional.Nuestra democracia saldrá fortalecida 🇮🇱— Gil Artzyeli (@Gil_Artzyeli) March 27, 2023The Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva also announced its closure, despite the UN human rights council being in the midst of the 52nd session.🇮🇱 STATEMENT🇮🇱The Israeli Mission to the United Nations in Geneva goes on strike following the instructions of @histadruthadash. pic.twitter.com/cIAzB8Ikik— Israel in UN/Geneva🇮🇱🇺🇳 (@IsraelinGeneva) March 27, 2023It is understood that diplomats posted at the Israeli embassy in New Delhi have also joined the general strike as per instructions from Histradut. However, there was no announcement made on the social media accounts. The office hours of the embassy were already over by the time instructions for the strike arrived from Tel Aviv.Last night, the Israeli consul general to New York, Asaf Zamir announced his resignation from his post following the dismissal of Defence minister Gallant for calling for a freeze on the legislation as it was becoming a national security headache. A political appointee Zamir had previously held the post of tourism minister in the 2020-2021 Israeli government formed by Netanyahu.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his controversial Israeli counterpart Netanyahu enjoy a warm relationship, which PM Modi has never concealed. As a piece in Foreign Policy said last week, “in the past several decades the relationship has significantly deepened and broadened, especially under the two right-of-centre prime ministers, Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu.”File photo of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. Photo: Haim Zach/Government Press Office, Israel