Israeli social justice protests

The 2011 Israeli social justice protests are a series of ongoing demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of thousands of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds opposing the continuing rise in the cost of living (particularly housing) and the deterioration of public services such as health and education. A common rallying cry at the demonstrations was the chant; "The people demand social justice!

As the protests expanded during August 2011, the demonstrations began to also focus on other related issues relating to the social order and power structure in Israel.

The housing protests which sparked the first demonstrations began as a result of a Facebook protest group that initially led hundreds of people to establish tents in the Rothschild Boulevard in the center of Tel Aviv, an act which soon gained momentum, media attention and began a public discourse in Israel regarding the high cost of housing and living expenses. Soon afterwards, the protests spread to many other major cities in Israel as thousands of Israeli protesters began establishing tents in the middle of central streets in major cities as a means of protest. As part of the protests, several mass demonstrations have been held across the country, in which hundreds of thousands of people have participated.

A major focus of the protests has been what organizers have termed social justice. Part of the movement is about changing the social order, and the economic system. Calls to topple the government were made by some parts of the protests. Criticism of the protests includes accusations of a political agenda rather than a social one with revelations of funding from specific left-wing individuals and organizations like S. Daniel Abraham and the New Israel Fund. Maariv journalist Kalman Libeskind claimed that the spontaneous protests had actually been three months in the planning by Stan Greenberg and orchestrated by left-wing organizations and The National Left. Criticism within the protests accused the 'protest leaders' of not publicizing specific goals, the lack of visibility of their goals, and the damaging impact of media focus being on a few activists.

Following the first large-scale protests in early August, the government announced that a series of measures would take to solve the housing shortage, some of which were already under preparation and ratification, and some which were new measures proposed in response to the demands of the protest movement leadership. In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a team of ministers and senior staff members from his office, headed by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, to negotiate with the protest leaders[original research?] as well as the Trajtenberg Committee. Since that time, there has been significant criticism of the Prime Minister's perceived insensitivity to the public sentiment, and there is ongoing speculation that general sympathy for the protest movement may cause one or more members of the governing coalition to leave the government, triggering national elections.