Netanyahu promises reforms after mass protests

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will carry out "real" economic change after massive protests across the country on Saturday demanding lower living costs. 

Reuters/Ronen Zvulun

Some 450,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the demonstrations, the largest-ever in Israel, with many carrying signs calling for cuts to the cost of housing, food and eduction

"The government I head is committed to execute real changes to alleviate the cost of living and fix social distortions," Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

He said his decision to form a committee to examine the demands of the six-week-old protest movement was “serious” and it would submit “serious recommendations".

But the prime minister repeated previous warnings that his government would not approve spending that risked throwing Israel into an economic crisis.

The protest movement began in mid-July, when young activists angry over the price
of housing in Tel Aviv decided to pitch their protest tents on the city's Rothschild Boulevard. It has since grown into a movement the likes of which Israel has never seen before.

Protestors say the tent cities that have sprung up across Israeli cities, are the closest thing to an uprising that Israeli society has ever seen.