ISRAELIS RALLY IN TEL AVIV IN PROTEST TO SOCIAL INJUSTICE

Tel Aviv, 17 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/19 January 2014 (MINA) – Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv in protest against social injustice. The protesters on Saturday gathered at a square in Tel Aviv before marching in the streets.

The demonstrators were angry at the rising housing prices, the increase in poverty rate and the widening social gap.

They also lashed out at Israeli authorities for the policies they adopt, accusing them of corruption, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Discontented Israelis almost regularly take to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest against Tel Aviv’s economic plans and the painful austerity measures that have raised taxes and cut welfare benefits.

A report released in December last year showed that more than 1,700,000 Israelis, including one-third of Israeli children, are living below the poverty line.

According to official data released in a an annual report published by the National Insurance Institute (NII) and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 439,500 families and 817,200 children, or 33 percent of minors in Israel, lived below the poverty line in 2012.

Many Israelis have been migrating in recent months to Germany and the United States due to economic woes, the report added.

High taxes and low salaries have had adverse effects on the lives of Israelis, specifically the middle class, in recent years.

Commentators say the situation in Israel has deteriorated since 2011, when Tel Aviv authorities promised to meet public demands in the wake of massive protests. (T/P012/E1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)