Israel's Foreign Ministry workers began a general strike on Sunday, effectively shutting down all diplomatic services in Israel and around 103 foreign missions abroad.

An internal email sent from the Foreign Ministry's workers union to its employees and published by the Ha'aretz daily says that the strike will begin in the Jerusalem office at 3 pm local time (1300GMT) on Sunday, and in the missions abroad the strike will commence on Monday.

"The Foreign Ministry headquarters will be closed to all activities," the email said. "All workers in all positions are ordered to stay away from the office. Israeli missions abroad will be closed as of Monday March 24."

The strike will go on indefinitely, the Foreign Ministry workers said, until the treasury improves their employment conditions and withdraws its plan to cut workers' salaries. This is the first time since the establishment of the state in 1948 that its embassies throughout the world will shut down at once.

The strike will include a complete halt in all diplomatic activities, including organizing official visits abroad and transferring diplomatic cables among missions. There would be no issuing of passports or visas into Israel.

Foreign Ministry workers went on a limited labor dispute strike a year ago, protesting conditions of the ministry's workers abroad and at home, citing the cuts in their salaries. The dispute came to an end in the summer, when they struck a deal with the Ministry of Finance, following the intervention of the district labor court.

However, earlier this month workers at the Foreign Ministry accused the treasury of not holding to its side of the deal, adding that they had given the treasury proposals to solve the disagreements, which were rejected. The workers also charged the treasury of aiming to cut the workers' salaries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his planned trip to South America in April last week amid the dispute's resurfacing earlier this month, and there are concerns over the preparations for Pope Francis's upcoming visit to Israel in May.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is banned from entering the Foreign Ministry amid the strike, called the strike a "poor decision which is of no use and would only cause further damage to the foreign ministry workers," according to a statement from his office. He added that he would work to try and minimize the damage caused to the state and its citizens by the strike.