Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests Saturday evening, reviving their summer campaign against the high cost of living in Israel.  An estimated 50,000 people joined the demonstration in Tel Aviv. The broadcaster Channel 10 reported 45,000 had shown up.  In Jerusalem, 5,000 protestors joined the demonstration. The most applauded speaker at the Tel-Aviv rally was a leading communist activist in Tel-Aviv University, Raby’ia Fahum. He called for a “united Jewi-Arab struggle against capitalism” and for “a country for all”.

rally, yesterday, Rabin Square (prhoto: Activestills)

In Jerusalem on Saturday night, thousands of demonstrators marched from the city’s Gan Hasus (Horse Park) toward the Knesset. The demonstrators carried signs that read “We won’t be satisfied with crumbs” and  the Hadash banner: “When the government is against the people, the people are against the government.” Among those marching in Jerusalem was National Student Union head Itzik Shmuli

Demonstrations were also reported in Haifa, Modi’in, Kiriat Shmona, Eilat und Hod Hasharon. In Beer Sheva, in the south, plans were cancelled at the last minute due to rocket attacks from Gaza Strip.

The movement reached its high point in August, when protestors gathered one Saturday after another. On September 4, an estimated 450,000 people gathered for the largest known demonstration in Israel’s history.

Protesters are demanding that the current neo-liberal budget for 2012 take into account the growing economic pressures on Israelis. The proposals call for reductions in the military and occupation budget so that 100,000 new apartments can be built to lower high rents.