Israelis turn out for largest economic protest ever!
TEL AVIV, Israel - September 3, 2011 - More than 400,000 Israelis poured into streets in cities across the country Saturday night, Israeli media estimated, in a show of strength behind a social protest movement that has rocked the country for two months.
The demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and elsewhere, against Israel's high cost of living, housing crisis, and distorted distribution of wealth, marked the high point - so far - of a summer-long grassroots protest movement that has ballooned from a few tents in Tel Aviv to a nationwide phenomenon that has delivered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government its most serious domestic crisis.
The protest movement and its slogan of "the people demand social justice" have thrust Israel's economic issues to the top of the country's agenda and brought thousands into the streets each week.
"I've had enough of always working and never advancing. You have to work several jobs just to survive. All the burden is on the middle class," said Sharon Riwkes, a 30-year-old clinical psychology resident in Tel Aviv.
The protests have included representatives of all segments of society, with the exception of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Many Israelis are concerned about the growing influence of an expanding community where most of its men study scripture and live on government handouts.
A brief flare-up between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza deflected attention from the protests, but the large turnout Saturday indicated the focus has returned.
