On the one hand, they shout "looting, looting" at Nir Barkat at a high-tech conference, but when you leave the parking lot you pay 40 shekels, another 15 shekels for a small cup of coffee, and at the end of the day you order pizza for the children for 80 shekels, because they are too tired to prepare food.
The votes on approving the state budget last night in the Knesset plenum proved once again that when it comes to protests, Israelis are the most sucker people in the world. The looting takes place every day in Israel, but once a week in Kaplan they remember to meet all the guys and remind themselves that after all they are not completely sheep. Just a little. Immediately afterwards you pay an exorbitant price at some bar or restaurant near Kaplan. The main thing is that we demonstrated and showed civic responsibility.
The Brasserie Restaurant (the subjects have no connection to the article), Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
It's true, anyone walking the streets of Israel hears conversations like: new real estate projects are about to stall, interest rates are suffocating, saving where possible. On the other hand, try to get a plane ticket for Shavuot to one of the nearest destinations in Israel. Try to get a place for prestigious restaurants in Tel Aviv. New cars are sold here at some of the highest prices in the world and no one cares, everyone buys more and more. "Looting", "shame" and from there to Ruthie Brodo's "Brasserie" to some Croque Madame, repeating the mantra "Just don't be Poland, just don't be Hungary", adding 15 percent service.
For the Israel State Cup final between Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Netanya, tickets were sold on the black market for 3,000 shekels, and people queued up to buy. "Shame, shame, shame."
The departures hall at Ben Gurion Airport (the subjects have no connection to the article), photo: Coco
We are told that the rich are stuck with apartments, and they must sell. We are told that the dollar is rising, and people are left without money. In general, another moment is happening here a catastrophe that we have not known in our 75 years of existence. But 20 weeks into the biggest social struggle here in the country, the result is clear: the reform may not pass, Yariv Levin may resign, but these things don't interest our bank account. The reason the budget passed last night is because all Israelis are willing to pay as much as necessary, when needed and where necessary. We meet at duty free and tell each other that we live in a dictatorship and that we barely make ends meet.
The last time there was a social protest over the cost of living, it failed miserably: Daphne Leaf's friends turned her and her guitar around and went to the Knesset to disappear as they came. This time, it seems that the forces behind the protest are Israel's wealthy who rightly want to save it from dictatorship. The problem is that in the battle between Israel's wealthy and the Knesset, the cost of living is the last thing on anyone's mind. Simply because both sides have, and a lot.
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