Social protest movement leaders on Wednesday called on Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg to resign from the neo-liberal committee he was appointed to lead by the government, saying they do not have confidence the committee will find solutions to the social issues facing Israel, and the Knesset must return to session to handle the issue.
Speaking at press conference in Tel Aviv yesterday (Wednesday), Daphni Leef, the 26-year-old Tel Avivian who launched the movement, said “Like the prime minister tried at the start of the protests to get the students to pull out by one-time temptations such as cheap public transport for one year, this is also what he is trying to do with the Trajtenberg Committee”.
A rally for housing, yesterday night, Bat-Yam (photo: Activestills)
The leaders of the social protest yesterday lashed out at the government-appointed committee tasked with resolving the social crisis, saying it was “cynical and deceptive” and calling on chairman Professor Manuel Trajtenberg to resign. Protest leaders announced the resumption of the campaign with a large march and rally on Saturday night, as a prelude to the “march of a million” – a massive demonstration planned for the following Saturday, September 3.
Protest leaders from encampments all over the country attended the conference, together with leaders of the farmers, youth movements and social organizations. The student leaders did not attend because they disagreed with the unequivocal call not to cooperate with the Trajtenberg committee. However, the National Students Union said afterward it would continue to cooperate with the social protest campaign.
The protest leaders reiterated their guiding principles, including narrowing the social gaps, increasing the government’s economic involvement, increasing state expenditures, halting privatization, raising direct taxes and bolstering the education, health and welfare systems. They called on the government to re-open the budget and make significant, immediate changes in the order of priorities.
More social and workers demonstrations all over Israel
Yesterday, hundreds of taxi drivers congregated on Rothschild Boulevard, the hub of Tel Aviv’s tent city, on Wednesday, to protest high gas prices and work conditions. The protests have caused mass traffic jams in the city center and the main artery has been closed off to private vehicle traffic.
Taxi drivers are protesting high fuel taxes, which were not reduced despite the reduction in gasoline prices. The drivers are demanding that gas prices be re-evaluated. Also, they are calling for better protection for taxi drivers after, according to them, 12 drivers have been attacked in the past month.
The procession of taxi drivers left the Tel Aviv central bus station and continued to Menahem Begin Boulevard. From there the drivers proceeded to Rothschild Boulevard via Allenby Street. “There was a time when gas was 15% of our expenses,” Yehuda Bar-Or, chairman of the taxi drivers’ union said. “Now it is 40%.”
The chairman continued, saying “I know that it is going to be an inconvenience for the people of Tel Aviv, and we don’t mean to harm them. We live on the road and therefore we are protesting on the road. We hope that passengers understand that this protest is for them, so that we don’t have to raise prices and hurt them.”
Also, some 500 workers of large oil companies Sonol and Delek protested outside the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem yesterday afternoon, after the government announced that it would reduce the amount of money it transfers to the oil companies from the taxes imposed on retail gasoline. The workers were protesting out of fear of mass firings.
In southern Beer-Sheva and central Bat-Yam were held yesterday demonstrations. In Beer-Sheva social activists occupied for hours the Ministry of Construction and Housing. In Bat-Yam, hundreds marched yesterday night for houses.
A big rally in southern Yeruham will be held tonight in the town. The local council has a NIS 14 million deficit which puts the salaries of all public servants at risk. More rallies were be held by Hadash and Communist Party of Israel next weekend in the Galilee and other localities. Tomorrow, a demonstration will be held at 12 am in Nazareth, Saturday at 12 am in Kufr Yasif (Western Galilee); Saturday 16:00 at Yuvalim junction (Central Galilee); Saturday at 17:00 at Ein-Ibrahim junction (Wadi ‘Ara) and at the same hour in the city of Qalansuwa.
