"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to ignore, and sweep under the carpet, the fact that people have begun to set themselves alight, because of financial distress. This greatly worries me," social protest leader Dafni Leef told “IDF Radio" (Galei Zahal) in response to the tax hikes and budget cuts announced by Netanyahu.
Asked if the measures meant that the social protest had failed, Leef said, "To say that the social protest has failed is like saying that the public has failed. It's impossible to say that the protest is not in the streets. The protest is here and it is burning."
As for the government's plans to increase the deficit target to finance, in part, the demands for social spending raised by the protest, Leef said, "Netanyahu is the man who created this deficit, and it's not intelligent to say that it is being increased now just to shut the public up. When we came out on to the streets, we didn’t want a band-aid, we wanted a long-term solution - and the government did not provide it. The real problem is that there is only short-term thinking here."
Leef said that Israel is facing economic collapse and social collapse, and that a new plan is needed. "If the government knows that there is going to be a crisis or slowdown, it should plan its measures fairly; which segments should bear the burden, where cuts should be made, and what should not be touched," she said.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 26, 2012
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