Israeli protests are heating up quickly. More than 100,000 people took to the streets in Israel on Saturday. Israeli discontent over spiralling living costs has reached boiling point.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has responded, blaming the housing crisis on too much red tape which he plans to slash. He promised to inject 50,000 flats into the housing market in an attempt to lower rent prices. His critical Twitter alter ego, @fake_bib, to respond: '"I'm so talented it will take me five minutes to solve a problem I identified ten years ago.'
These demonstrations have affected Netanyahu's reputation. A stunning Haaretz poll stated that 87 percent of the Israelis support the current tent protests while only 35 percent believe Netanyahu is handling the crisis in a satisfactory manner. Only two months ago, Netanyahu returned from his speech at Congress to find a 51% approval rating.
Only only 35% of those polled by Haaretz believe Netanyahu is handling the crisis in a satisfactory manner.
One Likud minister, Michael Eitan, publicly stated that Netanyahu does not know where he is going. Another minister, remaining anonymous but described as a "Netanyahu ally", said that Netanyahu was showing "panic and lack of leadership."
Protest organisers last week called for 100,000 people to join the street as anti-boycott law protestors and protestors frustrated with living costs join forces.
The Israeli government's right wing economic policies have provoked anger. Such policies have caused huge income disparities between Israel's socio-economic groups. Israel has the second highest poverty rate among OECD countries (OECD data).
The right-wing government has also implemented an anti-boycott law which has no parallel in democratic countries (Israeli Knesset commission finding).
Such policies clearly have negative consequences. But there is a silver lining in the cloud which cannot be ignored.
The angry public response has forged a unity between Israel-Arabs and Jewish Israelis which cannot be ignored. Two Israeli-Arab political bodies, the National Committee for the Arab Local Authorities and the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, joined the housing protests on Thursday.
The economic policy of the Israeli government has also provoked a reaction which has been forged with the anger at the anti-boycott law. As a consequence, Israeli freedom of speech is benefiting from the anger caused by Israeli right-wing economic policy.
On a wider scale, the Israeli protests appear to be promoting Israeli harmony with the wider Arab world. Just today, Dimmy Reider, a blogger for 972 mag, posted a message on Facebook from an Egyptian Tahrir Square activist in solidarity with the Israeli protest.
It is clear that Israeli policy has alienated thousands of middle and working class citizens as well as compromised the principles of free speech, it has provoked a reaction which may work for the future harmony of Israelis with both their Palestinian neighbours and the wider Arab world.
This is a clear silver lining.