Towards resolution of Israel’s social protests

Construction in Har Homa

It appears that the social protests which have taken over Israeli streets this summer are on their way to some sort of resolution, however incomplete.

The Interior Ministry has authorized the construction of 930 housing units in Jerusalem’s Har Homa and it seems that at least some lessons from the protests have been learned:

Yishai stated that he has instructed his staff to promote construction plans, which include small housing units “in an effort to enable all Israeli citizens to purchase an apartment.” It was noted that the project is the initiative of the Construction and Housing Ministry.

Of course this is being objected to by no less than a member of Jerusalem’s own city council, Meir Margalit of the leftist Meretz party since Har Homa lies over the “green line”:

Meir Margalit of the Jerusalem Municipality said: “Yishai is looking for any possible excuse to sabotage the peace process.”

He accused the minister of sacrificing peace and security for political interests and said that one needs to be careful with such projects ahead of September, when the Palestinians will seek UN membership.

In my opinion Margalit has got it exactly backwards.  Particularly with the threat of Palestinian statehood on the horizon, it is up to Israel to achieve facts on the ground well in advance.  And does he really think that if Israel did not build these 930 apartments, the Palestinians will not go to the UN? This has been their declared intention for months now, long before this housing announcement of today.

Doctors' rally in Jerusalem

Meanwhile, the other major component of the social unrest, the doctors’ strike, looks like it is on its way to resolution too, with the Finance Ministry agreeing to the creation of 1,000 new positions. This is excellent news, not only for stopping the terribly disruptive doctors’ strike, but because the doctors are justified in their demands and Israel sorely needs those extra doctors.

Are we nearing the end of the doctors’ strike? A surprising and significant breakthrough was announced Wednesday by the Finance Ministry and Israel Medical Association. The announcement comes on the heels of a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Medical Association Chairman Dr. Leonid Eidelman on Tuesday.

Eidelman, who had been on a hunger strike for eleven days, broke his fast when the agreement was struck. “This is an historic moment,” he said. “An historic agreement is being finalized for Israel’s health system. We are reforming the public health system radically, and I thank the prime minister, his Office Director Eyal Gabai, and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.”

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The breakthrough involved the Finance Ministry’s agreement to immediately establish 1,000 additional positions for medical residents and specialists in public hospitals, easing the current work load on doctors throughout the country.

Ynet reports that doctors’ and residents’ wage rises were also discussed, although the threat by 1,000 residents to resign over their work conditions has still not fully been lifted, and the strike continues partially.

In more protest news, taxi drivers have joined the protests:

Taxi drivers have joined the wave of demonstrations sweeping Israel on Thursday, blocking a main Tel Aviv road in protest of the high price of diesel fuel in Israel.

And the Finance Minister, in trying to bring down the cost of dairy products, might be making matters worse rather than better by allowing the import of yellow cheese.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz signed a directive to allow the importation of yellow cheeses, his ministry announced Wednesday, leading to claims from the Dairy Board that he had pre-empted a legal decision on the matter.

“Opening the dairy market to imports will encourage competition and ultimately reduce retail prices. This step will improve the welfare of consumers and of the Israeli economy,” Steinitz said in a press statement.

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But the Dairy Board, the central institution dealing with regulation of the industry, accused Steinitz of “making a shameful grab” and signing the directive without waiting for a High Court of Justice ruling on the matter.

“The continued implementation of the Treasury’s piggish capitalist ideology – even during these public protests – testifies more than anything to its unreceptiveness,” the board said in a press release.

“Every 40 tons of imported cheese will mean the closure of one dairy farm in the periphery, and the movement of milk production to Europe. Steinitz has signed the closure of 250 dairy farms in the periphery.

I’m not an economist, not even a prophet, so I am not in a position to say who is right here. It seems to me that both sides are right. Both sides have good intentions but we all know where good intentions lead us.

For dessert, I leave you with this interesting analysis from the JPost: As more groups protest, is their message more confusing?

Now, as 2011’s “summer of discontent” sees more and more sectors and interest groups airing their grievances at public demonstrations and in tent cities, the question arises whether the message for social change has become stronger or more convoluted? “In a practical sense, the more people there are trying to get specific benefits the more difficult it is for each group,” Bar-Ilan University Prof. Sam Lehman- Wilzig, who has authored two books on social protests in Israel, commented on Wednesday. “The more demands there are the more the message gets diffused and the more difficult it is for the government to come forward and address the demands.”

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According to the professor, even as many new groups continue to join the summer protests with their own demands, the overall message is becoming clearer.

“We are seeing a vast cross-section of Israeli society that has had enough of privatization and capitalization,” observed Lehman-Wilzig. “They are demanding a return, not to socialism but to a stronger social welfare system.”

He added: “What is becoming most clear is that there is a powerful voice and force that believes Israeli society has swung too far to the right and society is pushing back and demanding something more in the middle.”

The middle road, the “Golden Path” according to the Rambam, sounds good to me.