Israel’s Asian restaurants went on a one-day spring-roll strike Tuesday in protest over government plans to rid kitchens of foreign chefs, and said sushi and noodles would be the next items off the menu.
The restaurants are angry at government plans to purge Japanese, Chinese and Thai eateries of Asian cooks and replace them with Israelis as part of a broader programme to cut the number of foreigners working in the Jewish state.
The Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation said the country’s 300 Asian restaurants refused to serve spring, or egg, rolls — among their most popular dishes — on Tuesday, and planned a follow-up strike in two weeks for sushi and noodles.
”Today there is no egg roll and in two weeks time there will be no sushi and noodles,” Arnon Volosky, head of the organisation, told Reuters.
Israel attracts virtually no immigrants from Asia since anyone seeking citizenship here must prove they have Jewish family or links to the country. – Reuters