Will cost-of-living protests become larger political movement?

By Yossi Gurvitz July 16, 2011 | Edit

The protests against rising rent prices in Tel Aviv are becoming politicized, and the Treasury’s plan to raise electricity prices may backfire

In the last couple of days, a number of disaffected Tel Avivians decided to protest against the problem of the costs of living in the city, particularly the cost of rent. They pitched tents in the Ha’Bima Square. And they’re not going away.

At first – and even second – look, this appears to be a rather bourgeois protest. But there may be more to it. While opposition MKs – like Nitzan Horowitz of Meretz and the ubiquitous Dov Henin of Hadash, a former mayoral candidate – showed up, they were warmly accepted. When Miri Regev of the Likud (a particularly noxious MK Israelis became acquainted with during her disastrous term as IDF Spokesman; Regev is arguably the worst liar to hold the office), she was heckled until she left.

Is the protest about the cost of living becoming something larger? Many of the protesters seem buoyed by the success of the famous cottage cheese revolt – the first time many Israelis have experienced a victory in a public struggle. Prices are supposed to be hiked again soon: The power company needs to raise the price of electricity some 20% to 25%, since it is in debt. The government, led by the neo-Liberals of the Treasury, is disinclined to help – and is in fact a major part of the problem. The power company is not allowed to use mazut – a low quality fuel oil – because it is highly polluting; the government, Calcalist found this week (Hebrew, and a disclaimer: I freelance for them) taxes mazut at 14 shekels a ton. The power company needs to use diesel fuel. The Treasury taxes the power company twice (!), and it is forced to pay 3,300 NIS (!!) per ton of diesel fuel. The Treasury seems to use the price of diesel – by hinting they may lift the tax – as a whip against the power company. The Treasury wants the company to disband its (possibly all-too) powerful union.

Should the price of electricity jump some 20% or more, basically every product will increase in price, because the producers have to spend more on electricity. Generally, the Treasury’s main focus is on keeping inflation down, but union-busting seem a higher priority these days. Binyamin Netanyahu, while serving as Minister of the Treasury, claimed the power company was his main target – and compared it to the Bismarck, the Nazi warship. The Treasury may, finally, be able to sink it.

There remains the public, which has been docile during the entire last decade, as one financial blow after the other rained on him courtesy of Netanyahu and his henchmen. It is not at all certain that this will be the case; I received an email this morning, calling for a “week of rage” beginning tonight, calling for concerned people to show up at 20:00 in Gan Meir. This may be a flash in the pan, but a hike in the electricity prices – particularly during the summer – may be the flash that will blow up the powder keg.

I am Yossi Gurvitz, a 40-year old journalist, blogger and photographer. I write for several Israeli publications, including the influential financial daily Calcalist and the Nana portal. In the past, I’ve been deputy editor of Nana News, and with Itamar Shaaltiel edited its 2006 Knesset elections section. I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, graduated from a Yeshiva (Nehalim), but saw the light and turned atheist at about the age of 17. After the mandatory three years in the military, much more strictly enforced in 1988 than now, I studied history and classics, earning a BA degree, and studying three additional years towards an MA, but abandoned the project in favor of earning my living as a journalist. [It seemed a good idea at the time.]