On October 30th, the Israeli cabinet voted to shift the tax burden from the poor and middle class to the wealthy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the taxation portion of the Trajtenberg report on Sunday, levying heavier taxes on both corporations and the extremely wealthy.
Earlier this month, the cabinet approved in principle the report by the Trajtenberg Committee for socioeconomic change, the result of a social protest movement which swept Israel all summer.
It seems as though Israelis of all shades were occupying the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities all summer to protest the inequality of only a few people controlling most of the wealth in the country. On August 6, over 300,000 Israelis took to the streets around the country.
Critics say their demands are unrealistic, especially when there is a deeper, global, economic crisis.
Others insist this is a battle for the soul and direction of Israel.
They say their “movement” is deliberately non-political. It is not about Israel and the Palestinians but normal Israelis concerned that their country is losing all sense of moral and collective responsibility.
Sound familiar?
Among the supporters of the movement is Hadash, which is an Israeli-Arab political party that holds 4 seats in the Knesset.
(NOTE: this is not a thread about Israeli-Palestinian issues. If you want to spout off about that, do it in an Open Thread. Off-topic comments will be moved).