Protest leaders Dafni Leef and Itzik Shmuli have rejected the Trajtenberg committee proposals, as reported by the Israeli media last night.
"The recommendations reflect the fears that the committee has no mandate to institute the change needed in Israel," said Leef, who initiated the tent protest on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard. "They underscore the concerns that we expressed weeks ago that the Trajtenberg committee has no mandate suited to bring about thorough change in Israel's socioeconomic system, the reason why hundreds of thousands of people came onto the streets in the past couple of months."
Leef added, "The only way to change Israel's reality and priorities is to create a new social budget for 2012 and fairly distribute resources. It is unacceptable that Israeli society has undergone such a huge change while the government keeps the old budget that does not meet the demands of the aroused public."
National Union of Israeli Students chairman Itzik Shmuli told “IDF Radio" (Galei Zahal), "The recommendations are sort of in the right direction, but they offer nothing for housing. It should be remembered that people are still sleeping in tents because they have nowhere to go. Besides housing, the entire approach is inadequate. Instead of something new, they are taking from one pocket and putting it into another. We know this trick.
"I utterly reject the recommendations. They are not enough. I am pleased about some of the ideas for education, but here too, they have to show where the money will come from."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 15, 2011
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