Despite vociferous opposition from protest leaders, the Knesset (with Netanyahu's backing) passed a controversial housing bill hours before going on recess, a move that has further ignited the situation.
Protesters clog Tel Aviv's streets as 150,000 rally across Israel on July 30.
Yesterday, protest leaders sent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a list of bold demands upon which they hoped negotiations with the government could be based. The list was expansive – including lowering taxes, expanding public eduction and health care reforms.
But the central demand was for the Knesset to jettison Netanyahu's response to the housing crisis that sparked the protests: formation of housing committees that could fast-track building projects.
Today, the Knesset thumbed its nose at the protesters, who today blocked roads in three cities, including one leading to the Knesset, and pledged massive rallies for tomorrow and Saturday, with some calling for never-before-heard-of numbers to take the streets.
Momentum seems to only be increasing by the day.
Protesters in Tel Aviv, yesterday, August 2.
Haaretz is reporting that both protest leaders and opposition leaders in the Knesset are taking the move as a slap in the face to the Israeli populace, which widely supports the protests:
The chairman of the National Students Union, Itzik Shmuli, said that the government's approval of the hosuing law "defied the public and choked the chance for trust and dialogue".
The Dror Yisrael movement said: "As we gathered to formulate our positions for dialogue with the government, we received a resounding slap from Netanyahu and his government. It seems that the prime minister's statement on establishing a team for dialogue with us was merely a facade or an attempt to dismantle opposition with sweet talk."
The Kadima party said in response to the passage of the law: "The most bloated government in the history of Israel has proven that it is also the most opaque in the history of Israel. Government ministers speak of the close attention they are paying to the public protest but spit on it from the Knesset."
Today, hundreds of protesters blocked roads in several cities, including in Jerusalem, where activists gathered to block entrance and exit to the Knesset as Israel's legislative body, rejecting demands from the people, went on recess.
The protests have galvanized the nation, and are overwhelmingly being supported now across many political and social lines.
Noam Sheizaf, at 972 Magazine, writes about the overwhelming poll numbers coming out of Israel today:
- The support for the protest crosses sectors and party lines. According to Channel 10’s poll conducted on Monday, 88 percent of Israelis support the protest. The middle class parties lead the way: 98 percent of Kadima voters (!), 95 percent of Labor’s and even 85 percent of Netanyahu’s Likud voters find the protest just. Even if these figures dropped in the last couple of days—which had some fractions and public disputes in the protest movement—they are still exceptionally high.
- The attempts to discredit the protest have mostly failed. Government spokesperson and rightwing organizations tried to tie the protest to left wing movements, claiming that it is a politically-motivated move aimed personally against PM Netanyahu. Still, 74 percent of the public think that the protest is a genuine one, and only 22 percent find it to be politically motivated.
- The hard right is the only group not identifying with the protest. Half of Shas’ voters and most of those voting for the settlers’ parties think the protest is politically motivated. Voters of those parties are more inclined to oppose the protest than any other group. I believe that these groups sense that the protest might challenge the dominant political arrangements in Israel – ones with benefit the settlers and the religious parties.
Leaders are pledging for massive rallies tomorrow and again on Saturday, with many feeling they could be the largest yet in Israel.
Things continue to expand and grow, as new protest tents have been established across Israel and the momentum continues, offering Netanyahu the greatest threat to his leadership and the stability of his coalition.
And recent moves seem to indicate that Israel's leaders seem either incapable or unwilling to quell the protests.
Change, in the long term, may be coming.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note 1: for background on these protests and further links for reading, see "Over 150,000 Protesters Take to the Streets in Israel."
Author's Note 2: Below is a video from the massive protests last Saturday to give people a sense of them visually: