Israel's middle class took to the streets on Saturday night to protest the cost of living. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the country's major cities including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheva for what was billed as "The mother of all demonstrations," as part of the struggle against the housing shortage and burden of indirect taxes. Estimates are that 150,000 Israelis took part in the demonstrations.
One demonstrator told Channel 2 news, "We are not prepared to take more of the presentations and slide shows that Bibi gave us this week as if we are schoolchildren in sixth grade. Our demands are simple - to live in dignity."
Another demonstrator in Jerusalem said, "We want solutions now. We don't want another committee and more spin."
Thousands of protesters in Jerusalem called for the fall of Benjamin Netanyahu's government and for general elections to be brought forward.
Demonstrations had been called for in five cities but in the end protesters marches through the streets in ten cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Shmona, Modiin, Ra'anana, and Nazareth. In Tel Aviv, more than 50,000 people marched from Habimah Square to Tel Aviv Museum, just as some 20,000-30,000 demonstrators had done the previous week.
Typical slogans were, "The people wants social justice," "Bibi go home," and "We want justice not charity."
Dafni Leif, one of the initiators and leaders of the tent protests said, "Greed and egoism have become the outstanding characteristics of Israeli society. But in the past two weeks, we have discovered that there are other Israeli characteristics. We have come here today to say to our publicly elected representatives in the clearest possible way: the State has responsibility to its citizens, a responsibility that they are trying to evade."
She added, "Our revolution is a revolution of awareness, to stand on the rights we are entitled to. We don't want to change the government but the rules of the game. We are talking about homes, they are talking about real estate."
She continued, "The land reform law won't solve the housing shortage. It contradicts what we are talking about. Instead of supervision, it abandons the land to those who believe in market forces and transfers ownership to the few. We vehemently oppose it. Public housing is not a dirty word."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 31, 2011
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