There’s a general assumption that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be back on the front pages come September when a U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood is scheduled. But in the meantime, there’s been a major outbreak of economic populism among Israel’s Jewish voters over the rising cost of living. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was rapturously received on Capitol Hill in May, has seen his domestic polls drop. He has admitted "a populist wave is sweeping the country". [Netanyahu: Housing protests are 'populist wave', By Ilan Lior and Gili Cohen, Haaretz.com,]
The protests have had conservative and liberal wings that have so far worked together more than they have collided. First, a cantor started a Facebook group to protest the near-doubling in the price of cottage cheese (a staple of Israeli breakfasts). Then, a video editor started an encampment on trendy Avenue Rothschild in Tel Aviv to protest the unaffordability of housing. Between them, the protests have proved hugely popular with the Israeli public.
The Israeli economy, unlike America’s and Europe’s, is booming, but prices are extremely high. Netanyahu, a skilled politician, has admitted that the demonstrators have a point: according to YNet’s Moran Azulay, "He added that the cries on the street were real, as Israel is currently ranked number 40 in global individual income while ranking number 20 in cost of living." [PM: Populism sweeping through Israel, August 3, 2011]
The Israeli cost of living protests are responding to the same economic stresses caused by rising populations bashing up against limited resources that set off the celebrated "Arab Spring" demonstrations.
