“The so-called free-market don’t work” said MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) during the daily meeting in the tent-city protest on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Street. Khenin recommended that the government raise taxes for homeowners who do not rent out empty their empty houses, and that rental rates should be regulated. “People call this a free market – what freedom is there in the current situation?” he asked.

MK Khenin criticized those who call young people to stay away from Tel-Aviv. “Where are the apartments for young couples in Modiin? Where are the apartments for rent in Modiin? In Ramat Gan? This is a serious crisis. The prices are not cheaper there either,” he remarked. Khenin added that plans to build over 160,000 apartments have been approved, but no construction has begun nor marketing campaigns.

“Contractors are just waiting for prices to go up. The free market isn’t working, the government must intervene to protect the young people more than the rich,” said Khenin. According to him, there are many empty apartments in Rothschild Boulevard, which hinders any solution to the housing shortage.

Khenin demanded to stop building towards for millionaires in Tel Aviv and begin building small and inexpensive apartments. He also called to enforce rent control and establish an emergency popular committee to handle the issue. “I’ve heard some unbelievable stories here,” he said. “There are people who found themselves without a home and we need to figure out solutions for them now. It’s possible.”

The National Students Union announced that it is joining the tent protest that began this week in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem against rising housing costs. Beginning Sunday, protest tents will be erected by students in Beersheba and at Rupin College north of Netanya. Later in the week, protest tents will be erected at the Beit Berl College in the Sharon and at Tel Hai College in Kiryat Shmona. Another tent-city was erected yesterday by residents from Jaffa and Bat-Yam.

Yesterday, dozens of young Left activists marching along Pinkas Street in Tel Aviv towards Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s home in protest against the escalating housing prices. The demonstrators, some of whom threw cottage cheese containers on Likud’s headquarters, are being accompanied by police forces. The activists say they intend to place furniture in front of Akirov Towers, where Barak resides, to illustrate the housing shortage. Another demonstration was held at Bank Hapoalim.

MK Miri Regev (Likud) arrived at the tent compound on Rothschild Blvd. in Tel Aviv over the weekend, and she was hounded out. The young protesters cursed her saying that she has not done enough to solve the housing shortage and that she is now trying to ride the wave of protest for media exposure. Yesterday morning in an interview on “IDF Radio” (Galei Zahal), Regev called the protesters “extreme leftists”.