Arnon Bar-David

Arnon Bar-David was born in 1957 in Tel Aviv.^[1] His father worked in the city's water plant.^{[citation needed]} In 1975, Bar-David enlisted in the IDF, joining the Naval Academy, and later served as a company commander in the Armored Corps. After the conclusion of his service, Bar-David became a coordinator of the Hebrew Scouts, studied history at Tel Aviv University, and worked as a sports correspondent for Hadashot in 1986, before becoming an editor until 1990. Bar-David additionally worked as a department manager in the Education Administration of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality until 1993.^[1]

In 1993, Bar-David joined the Tel Aviv's trade union, later becoming its chairman until 2006. from 2006 to 2019, Bar-David served as the Chairman of the Union of Clerical and Public Service Employees of the Histadrut.^[1]

In March 2019, after Avi Nissenkorn joined the Blue and White list and resigned as Chairman of the Histadrut, Bar-David was elected by the Histadrut House of Representatives to the post of chairman of the Histadrut.^[2][3]

One of his first acts after he took office was the closure of the Davar Rishon website, which criticized his entry into the post, his predecessor Nissenkorn and Moshe Kahlon.^[4] On May 1, an alternative news site went live.^{[citation needed]} Bar-David was re-elected as chairman on 24 May 2022. defeating former chairman Ofer Eini and winning 78% of the vote to Eini's 22%.^[5]

On September 1, 2024, Arnon ordered a strike in the Histadrut to pressure the government to reach a hostage deal.

Bar-David, a vocal critic of the Israeli government's economic response to the COVID-19 crisis, warned that Israel stands on the verge of an “economic Yom Kippur War.” Bar David repeatedly called on authorities to release cash to keep struggling businesses afloat.^[6]