Thousands of Israelis protest in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu's response to pandemic


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Thousands of Israelis took to the streets in downtown Tel Aviv on Saturday, protesting what is widely seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to address the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many Israelis believe government has not done enough to compensate hundreds of thousands of workers who lost their jobs as a result of restrictions and shutdowns.

Unemployment has surged 21 per cent since Israel went into lockdown in March, and aid packages promised by the government have been slow to come through. These had led to Mr Netanyahu’s popularity plummeting.

The protest in central Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square brought together the unemployed, self-employed, entrepreneurs and business owners.

Participants wore masks, but did not appear to be following social distancing rules.

Alarmed by a new spike in coronavirus cases, which surged after the economy began reopening, Mr Netanyahu this week reimposed a series of restrictions in a bid to contain infections, closing many businesses again.

"I have 40 workers with no income, no money," said Michal Gaist-Casif, vice president of a sound and lighting company.

"We need the government to pump in money until we're back to normal. We haven't been working since mid-March through April, May, June and July, and August is looking to be a catastrophe."

On Thursday, Mr Netanyahu announced an economic “safety net” promising quick relief to the self-employed and stipends over the coming year for struggling workers and business owners.

The government is expected to approve the plan on Sunday.

But the large turnout at Rabin Square was a sign of widespread discontent with the government’s policies.

Despite successfully keeping the outbreak under control in the spring, Israel’s new government, which took office in May, has been accused by some of reopening the economy too quickly. That has caused a new spike in infections, which is expected to put more people out of work as a result of renewed closures.

Authorities now report record levels of more than 1,000 new cases a day, higher than any peak in the spring as the death toll nears 340.

"People feel helpless, there's no response. They are enraged and want the government to take responsibility," said Roee Cohen, president of the Israel Chamber of Independent Organisations and Businesses.

In the face of an angry electorate, Mr Netanyahu's support has tumbled. A recent Midgam Research & Consulting poll on Channel 12 TV found just 46 per cent of respondents approved of Mr Netanyahu's job performance, down from 74 per cent in May.

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
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With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
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Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
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Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

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Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

 

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- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law