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Hundreds of thousands march across Israel for affordable housing

Israel Materials 4 September 2011 04:28 (UTC +04:00)
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the street on Saturday night across the country in demand for affordable housing, education and medical care, Xinhua reported.
Hundreds of thousands march across Israel for affordable housing

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the street on Saturday night across the country in demand for affordable housing, education and medical care, Xinhua reported.

Over 400,000 people took part in the rally, which was one of the biggest demonstration in Israel, according to local media, as the quantity of protestors kept growing from several thousands to about half a million.

The Israeli police estimated some 250,000 people marched in Tel Aviv. Another 40,000 protestors protested near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, expressing dissatisfaction over the high cost of living.

Marches took place in several other cities including Eilat, Nahariya, Hadera, Herzliya, which witnessed several thousands of participators respectively.

"Tonight we make history again. From now on the government knows that at any given moment Israelis can return to the streets and must therefore deliver the goods," one of the original organizers, chairman of the Student Union Itzik Shmuli, was quoted by Ynet as saying.

The protesters, many of whom were young Israelis disgruntled with growing inability to buy or rent a home, held a "tent protest" in the streets of Tel Aviv and several other major cities in July.

Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined emergency measures geared at alleviating the housing distress in the same month.

However, the plan failed to subdue public outrage over soaring prices, with protest leaders vowing to step up actions.

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