Thousands march in protests across Israel

Aug 13, 2011, 21:32 GMT

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

At least 60,000 people were reported to have marched in 15 smaller cities. For the first time since the non-violent protests began, nearly a month ago, no large rally was scheduled in Tel Aviv.

The largest march Saturday drew 30,000 people in the port city of Haifa. Other protests were held in Beersheba in the south and Afula in the north among others.

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.