BICOM

The largest protests yet over rising housing prices in Israel took place over the weekend. Around 20,000 protesters took part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. Several major Tel Aviv streets were closed off for a rally which took place on Saturday evening at the Tel Aviv museum plaza. The protests spread to Jerusalem on Sunday, as up to a thousand activists marched toward the Knesset, carrying banners demanding significant action on housing prices.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, in remarks before the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, expressed his identification with the ‘distress’ of the protesters. He said that an insufficient number of apartments are being built because ‘a Government monopoly holds more than 90% of the land in Israel and it is not releasing it.’ As a consequence, Netanyahu, during the cabinet meeting, indicated that he would make two major changes: ‘First, we will pass the reforms in the Israel Lands Administration as well as in the Planning and Construction Committees, by means of establishing what are called the national housing committees. Second, we will take several focused steps aimed at assisting young couples, as well as students and other needy sectors in the immediate year to year and a half, before the major housing additions are built.’

Meanwhile in related news, the Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union, will tomorrow discuss the possibility of joining the campaign over rising house prices. ‘The Histadrut is a social movement that is dedicated to both the workers and the middle class. We will not be able to stand idly by,’ Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini said.