BICOM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday the formation of a special economic team to reduce the cost of living, a day after 300,000 protesters took to the streets on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv and other cities across the country. It was the third consecutive week large protests took place across the country as demonstrators’ chanted slogans calling for social justice and for a better future. The organisers, made up of young students, are now planning a million person marches across 50 cities in the country on September 3.

In response to one of Israel’s largest ever demonstrations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday formed a panel of experts to meet with the leaders of the protests.  Netanyahu has said the panel should focus on five key areas: Easing the economic burden on the population; changing the mix of tax payments; expanding access to social services; increasing competition to reduce prices; and implementing the already launched housing plan. “I want the government’s full backing in the enormous change we are about to make in Israel’s economy,” Netanyahu said. He noted that while he recognised the distress by the protesters on the streets, he stressed the importance of keeping the Israeli economy stable amid the economic crisis in Europe and the US. “We will listen to everyone. We will speak with everyone. We will hold a genuine dialogue, not pressured and perfunctory, but we will really listen both to the distress and to the proposals for solutions. In the end, we will consider practical solutions. Practical solutions require choices. They also require balance,” Netanyahu said.

The panel of experts will be headed by Professor Manuel Tranchtenberg, Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education, and will include academics and experts from the private sector. The team will also include 15 parliamentarians, which has raised suspicion among protests organisers and bemusement in Netanyahu’s Likud party. According to a report in Haaretz, the leaders of the social protest are leaning toward not cooperating with the ministerial team on the matter, due to its size and configuration. Ynetnews quote several sources within the Likud who say the decision, or rather the scope of the appointments, was puzzling and potentially counterproductive.

The panel is expected to submit proposals to the socioeconomic cabinet by the end of September.

Further reading – BICOM Analysis: Are we seeing an ‘Israeli Summer’?