Tent protesters publish their demands

"A vision for social justice" is the title of the document published by the tent protest leaders today outlining their demands from the government. The document is worded in general terms and full of superlatives, such as "Renew the alliance between Israel's citizens and the state".

Some of the main demands are as follows:

Narrow social, economic, communal, and national gaps and create the national cohesion needed for the country's existence.
Change the economic system to properly and sufficiently fund citizens' basic needs.
Lower the cost of living, achieve full and fair employment and put price controls on basic goods.
Set clear priorities to Israel's social and geographical periphery through investment and government attention in the allocation of resources and infrastructures.
Handle citizens' essential needs in education, health and personal security and provide genuine solutions to basic needs in housing, transportation, public infrastructures through government intervention.

Signatories of the document include tent protest speaker Roy Neuman. The protest leaders emphasize that demands were jointly formulated with student leaders and social organizations. A tent protest leader said, "The document presents an image of a more just and more humane State of Israel, a country that takes care of its citizens."

Although the document does not set out specific demands, it includes criticism of the government and quotes from Israel's Declaration of Independence. The criticism of the government's economic policy says, "Enriches the few amongst us from the sick, the needy, and our children, whose pockets are being emptied. Did this country, which we love, whose borders we defend, whose economy flourishes with our sweat and the sweat of our parents, whose existence we are responsible for, and whose future we guarantee through our enterprise abandon us? No! Its government and rulers abandoned us?

The document concludes by calling on Israel's citizens to gird for a "long and just struggle to fix socioeconomic policy."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 8, 2011