On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the mass social protests for affordable housing in Israel, the far-right, neo-liberal coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu rejected on Sunday, July 10, a proposal by Hadash MK Dov Khenin (Joint List) to amend the Basic (constitutional) Law, Human Dignity and Liberty, to include the recognition of housing as a fundamental right.

A protest in Tel-Aviv for housing rights, July 2011 (Photo: Activestills)

“Five years after the housing protest, it is time that the state recognizes the right to housing as a basic right, and guarantee that there will not be a citizen without a roof over his or her head,” Khenin said.

Today (Tuesday, July 12), the Knesset’s housing lobby is planning a day of hearings to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2011 protests. In the five years that have passed since then, the cost of housing in Israel has nearly doubled.