Furious over what they call repeated government rejection of their demands, protesters hope to hold “the mother of all demonstrations” across Israel tonight (Saturday) – a week after 150,000 Israelis took to the streets in several cities to protest the soaring cost of living and against the Netanyahu government

Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend a mass rally in Tel Aviv as part of the public’s ongoing political and social mass protest that has swept the country in recent weeks. The procession is scheduled to leave at 9 pm from Kikar Habima – where the tent protest was launched – and make its way to Kaplan Street, ending with a rally featuring artists’ performances and speeches. Communist Party of Israel and Hadash activists will meet at 8:30 pm in Kikar Habima (Rothschild Boulevard corner Marmorek St.)

The main protest in Tel Aviv will set out from the Rothschild tent city and head down Ibn Gvirol Boulevard to Kaplan Street, where the rally will be held along the entire length of the street, in front of the Interior Ministry building, the Defense Ministry and the IDF headquarters. Leaders of the protest movement said they hope to top the number of participants from last Saturday’s rally. Also wives of police officers and Prison Service personnel are also expected to join the rally and protest their husbands’ low salaries and working conditions.

Mass protest in Tel-Aviv last Saturday: “Mubarak, Assad & Netanyahu” (Photo: Activestills)

A spokesman for the tent-city protest movement, told journalists that the size and intensity of Saturday night’s protests will be greatly influenced by the Knesset’s approval on Wednesday of the national housing committees law – a central sticking point for the movement. Organizers say the boulevard will be able to hold far more people than Tel Aviv Museum, the site of the past two protests.

While the crowds gather in Tel Aviv, students plan on holding a demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s house in Jerusalem, after marching from the tent protest at Horse Park (Gan Hasus). Protests are also scheduled to take place in cities and towns throughout the country, including Ashkelon, Eilat (near the Red Sea), Hod Hasharon and Tzemah, in the north.

The cancellation of the housing committees law was one of eight preconditions for dialogue that was presented by tent city protesters on Tuesday. The other preconditions included reducing indirect taxes, (in particular value added tax); increasing the budget for the Ministry of Housing and Construction’s Mortgage and Rental Assistance; investing surplus-tax revenues back to citizens by way of the state budget; implementation of the law on compulsory free education from three months of age; a halt to the privatization of welfare and mental health facilities; an increase in medical supplies and infrastructure at health facilities across Israel; and a gradual cancellation of private contractor-run construction projects in the public sector.

Thousands of workers took part Thursday in a rally

More than 1,000 parents participated Thursday in stroller marches across Israel, with about 500 in Tel Aviv, 400 in Hertzliya, 200 in Kiryat Motzkin, near Haifa, and about 50 in Sderot, all protesting against the high cost of raising children in Israel.

Meanwhile, a big protest took place outside the Histadrut headquarters in Tel Aviv, where Histadrut Labor Federation Chairman Ofer Eini and the head of the workers’ committee presented speeches to demonstrators. Youth groups, together with representatives of the National Union of Israeli Students, also participated in the rally.

Held under the title “Workers are with the protest”, the demonstration brought together youth groups and workers from some of Israel’s biggest companies, such as Tnuva, as well as the Electrical Co-op, Israel Railways, Israel Military Industries, and a large detachment of firefighters. The protesters held signs showing their support for the protest movement and chanted “the people want general strike” on the front lawn of the Histadrut headquarters. The Hadash fraction in the Histadrut demands a general strike in solidarity with the mass social protest.

Speaking from the stage on Thursday, Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini called on Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to “listen to the people” and said “the workers are the leaders and they are the people.” Pnina Klein from the organization “NA`AMAT- Movement of Working Women & Volunteers”, called Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s government “a disgrace to the state of Israel in the way it abandons Israeli children. The time has come for the state to take responsibility for its citizens. We supported the mothers’ protest and we say that they have the mandate to shout that there is no reason that half of their salaries should go to pay for their childrens’ education…Bibi, go home.”

Elsewhere in Tel Aviv, thousands of university lecturers, students, teachers and youth group leaders marched on Rothschild Boulevard on Thursday. They made their way to the house of Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar, calling out, “Free education for all.” And wanted the resignation of Sa’ar and all the government.