Israel's Netanyahu announces dialogue with housing activists

[News_Editor]

Israel's Netanyahu announces dialogue with housing activists

2011-07-31 23:32:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced the formation of a ministerial committee to negotiate with housing activists who have been protesting for more than two weeks, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting that the ministerial committee will formulate solutions to the country's current economic troubles. The committee will examine possible solutions such as the reduction of indirect taxes and take a series of additional steps to improve the standard of living. Member of parliament Ofir Akunis, however, warned that the team will not provide immediate solutions to the crisis.

During the meeting, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said the state must start transferring funds from the security budget over to welfare and education. "It is unthinkable that the ministry of defense has asked to expand its budget four times," he added, as reported by Haaretz.

The announcement came after Finance Ministry Director-Generalf Haim Shani announced his resignation on Sunday over disagreements with Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.

Demonstrations have been held across several cities to protest surging real-estate prices and the housing shortage in the country despite Prime Minister Netanyahu's proposed plan to solve the crisis, which was announced on Tuesday.

Under the proposed plan, there will be a 50 percent discount in price of land designated for the construction of apartments. Other initiatives include the construction of 10,000 new dormitory units for students and discounts on public transportation fares for students.

More than 100,000 people took to the streets on Saturday to protest the spiraling costs of living in Israel. For the first time since the beginning of the protests 16 days ago, a rally involving both Jews and Arabs took place in central Nazareth.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-31