Hundreds demonstrate against high apartment prices in capital; Histadrut head Eini meets with tent city organizers, pledges help.
By MELANIE LIDMAN, JPOST.COM STAFFProtest PM residence 311(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Hundreds of demonstrators in Jerusalem marched from the tent city in Gan Hasus (Horse Park) on King George Street to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's residence on Wednesday.Demonstrators slapped a "for sale" sign on the Prime Minister's residence, to protest the proliferation of "ghost apartments" in Jerusalem, which are bought up by foreigners who don't live in the country and stay empty for most of the year.RELATED:Main points of PM’s ‘affordable housing’11 arrested in mass-housing protests in JerusalemSouth TA tent protesters vow to stay a day after evictionThere are more than 40 tents in the Gan Hasus park, protesting high apartment prices as part of a national struggle.Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, Histadrut Labor Federation chairman Ofer Eini met with the organizers of the tent protests as well as with student leaders taking part in the protests.Army Radio reported that it was agreed in the meeting that Eini would fully participate in discussions between the protest's organizers and the government.Earlier on Wednesday, Eini pledged support for demonstrators protesting across the country for affordable housing, saying the Histadrut would join protests "at all levels" if the government did not invite the labor organization to discuss real solutions to the issues facing the middle and lower classes, Israel Radio reported.Eini demanded that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government "return hope to the nation," which is filled with couples and families who struggle to "finish the month," even on salaries of NIS 14-15,000.The Histadrut called on Netanyahu to "enlist [the Histadrut] and all relevant parties to formulate a solution" for the housing crisis facing Israel.
