The massive social protests that erupted all over Israel in the summer of 2011

may return to the streets next year because of the recent spate of job losses, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino told a conference of criminal lawyers in Eilat. Renewed protests by Bedouin against the Prawer resettlement plan also loom large in police plans for next year.

According the conservative “Economist” weekly, who measures the risk of social unrest in 150 countries around the world, Israel is a “medium risk country”. According to its ratings, 65 countries (43% of the 150) will be at a high or very high risk of social unrest in 2014. Compared with five years ago, 19 more countries are now in the high-risk categories. The Middle East and North Africa, southern Europe and the Balkans will be particularly vulnerable. In the past Thailand was identified as only being at “medium risk” but in recent days protesters have surrounded the house of the beleaguered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Demonstrations started in November, after a controversial amnesty bill passed Thailand’s lower house.

On other hand 2013 has been a record year for new members joining the ranks of organized labor in Israel, as many of the leading companies in the private sector, from cell phone operators and media companies to insurance and credit card firms, found themselves facing workers committees for the first time ever. Many of these companies even signed collective bargaining agreements.