More than 400,000 Israelis all over the country took it to the streets last night to protest the high cost of living and the lack of affordable housing. In Tel Aviv alone, there were over 300,000 protestors! This is a protest of the middle class who are getting squeezed at every angle. No affordable housing. Doctors going on strike (remember it is a single payer system). The gap bewteen rich and poor is wide. What began in July with a call from Facebook has grown into a series of tent cities and protest gatherings.
But Netanyahu remains rather indifferent. He is busy appeasing the right wing nuts of his own coalition rather than take seriously the protestors in the streets. He will use a tactic of waiting. Waiting to try and see if it will blow over. If the issues fade.
But I believe they won’t just fade away. These are bread and butter issues; work, home and family issues. This make it hard to ignore. Couple that with the impending declaration of a Palestinian state by the UN in violation of every treaty that the UN has agreed to will give the present government of Israel under Prime Minister Netanyahu a run for his money and his morals.
Here is the article from the New York Times.