Four papers discuss various issues related to the ongoing wave of socio-economic protests over – inter alia – housing prices and the cost-of-living:
Haaretz contends that “Netanyahu’s panic is a threat to Israel’s economic stability,” and states that “Instead of opening the public purse, Netanyahu should assess the reasons behind the frustration of the middle class, which is breaking under the tax burden.” The editor calls on PM Netanyahu to address the situation, “not through dangerous allocations of state funding that could drag the country down to the level of Greece, but through a genuine change in priorities.”
Yediot Aharonot complains that „politics as usual” is taking place at the Knesset even as the tent protests and marches continue, and reminds its readers that Defense Minister Ehud Barak is demanding a NIS 5-7 billion supplement for the security budget and that most Kadima MKs were absent from last week’s vote on civil marriage. The author believes that „A protest is not a revolution: It is an invitation to a revolution. In a democratic country, revolutions take place in the parliament. In the next elections, different people must be sent to the Knesset, people who are ready to act on behalf of the common home. Perhaps the revolution will come then.”
Ma’ariv points out that Sharon Stav, one of the protest leaders, said in a recent interview with the foreign press that „Our great concern at the moment is that Netanyahu, out of fear over what is happening, will start a war.” The author asserts that „Her anti-Zionist agenda has jumped out. Again, it is Israel which is bad and its wicked leader will spill innocent blood, Arab and Jewish, just to silence the masses. The industry of lies is at its best.”
Yisrael Hayom says that while the protest leaders „have not succeeded in formulating demands that could be a reasonable basis for negotiations,” and are – the paper claims – losing some of their initial momentum, „The Government would be making a mistake if it exploits the turnabout regarding the protest by slowing down the necessary corrections.”
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The Jerusalem Post remarks on the beginning of the month Ramadan, during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and asserts that “The celebration of Ramadan in Israel should be understood as an expression of the freedom of worship that Israel grants its largest minority group.” The editor feels that “It is important that Israeli leaders and society see Ramadan as a way to engage with the Muslim community,” and declares: “Promoting the study of modern trends in Islam at the university and institutional level, as well as encouraging the government to increase the level of knowledge about this community, is important in terms of integrating the country’s largest minority into the fabric of Israeli life.”
