Israelis Rebuff Netanyahu’s Housing Plan as a ‘Failure’

Israeli protesters have rejected an emergency housing package unveiled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of trying to split the protest movement instead of addressing social inequalities in the Zionist entity. "Our answer to his offer is 'No'. We here in Tel Aviv may be young, but we weren't born yesterday," said Daphni Leif, a protest leader, the Guardian reported. The plan would benefit building contractors rather than those in need of cheap housing, Leif added. The Israeli police arrested dozens of protesters and dispersed the crowds. The demonstrators said they would hold fresh protests in several cities across the occupied Palestinian territories on Saturday. After nearly two weeks of nationwide protests against high housing prices -- which are considered the biggest social protests in Israel since the 1970s -- the Israeli premier announced a series of measures to address housing crisis on Tuesday. However, Netanyahu's plan failed to end the public outrage as his move was deemed to be insufficient. Protesters accused Netanyahu of trying to bribe the students in order to split the protest movement. According to a poll published by Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, 87 percent of Israelis support the protests over high rents and house prices. The survey also showed that Netanyahu's popularity has fallen to 32 percent from 51 percent two months ago with more than half of those surveyed being unhappy with his response to the housing crisis.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian