Thousands expected to march in Israeli protests Saturday night

Aug 12, 2011, 13:46 GMT

Tel Aviv - Tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to take to the streets in major cities Saturday night, in an attempt to prove that the socioeconomic discontent sweeping the country is nation-wide and not confined to the main cities.

For the first time since the non-violent protests began, nearly a month ago, no large rally is scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv.

Instead, marches are planned in 11 other cities, the main ones slated to take place in Beersheba in the south and Afula in the north.

An estimated 300,000 people protested last Saturday night, mainly in Tel Aviv but in other cities as well, in the largest socioeconomic demonstration in Israel's history.

'We are going to get together as many people as possible and show solidarity with those people whose situation is much worse in terms of housing, health, employment, everything, than for those living in (the Tel Aviv area,)' the Jerusalem Post daily quoted Yonatan Levi, one of the protest leaders, as saying Friday.

The protests began in mid-July, when activists pitched tents in Tel Aviv's plush Rothschild Boulevard, to protest at the spiraling cost of housing.

Tent encampments have since sprung up all over the country. The protests have widened to include dissatisfaction at the general high cost of living, and support for the activists crosses political party lines.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted to the protests by appointing a 22-member committee, headed by National Economic Council chairman Manuel Trajtenberg, to meet the protestors. It is then to submit proposals to a 16-minister socioeconomic panel.