Bibi will say he significantly diminished the cost of living . And that the rights of the people to low cost rent , affordable housing , education , medicare , transportation, etc... are secured .

then he WILL call an election ! BTW, how much does 'social justice' cost ? And who will pay for it ? You ? Or the same guy who pays ALL the bills; the taxpayer !

No confidence motions come from inside the Knesset not from Left leaning newspapers. They are just dying to take a consumer revolt and change it to a socialist manifesto. Just remember that the reasons why prices are high are due to a manifestation of socalist ideals like protecting local monopolies govt run companies like the electric company High import taxes protecting those companies. Dont forget huge bureaucracies with endless red tape. Why did T A municipality just now get off their duff and approve the building in south tel aviv. What woke them up. this is not about anti bibi its about anti stalin, mapai, labor, etc.

Did Rabin call elections to pass the Oslo agreements? No, he bribed a couple of MK with BMW and ministerial appointments. And what about Ariel Sharon? No, he bulldozed through the expulsion with some well placed allocation of funds. Netanyahu at least talks as if he is open to accept suggestions. He has no obligation to do more than that.

Esteron was a big Rabin fan and I have to wonder why he expects more from Netanyahu than he did from Rabin. When Rabin was confronted with massive public opposition he didn't turn to new elections. He passed the Oslo agreements by bribing MK from another party with BMWs and ministerial positions. Similarly Arik Sharon bulldozed his expulsion of Jews from Gush Katiff he simply threw some money at Shas and Degel HaTorah and got enough votes. Screw public opinion. So here Netanyahu at least is talking as though he plans to listen to the protest and even accommodate them in part. How is he more obligated than Rabin or Sharon?

Especially with the PA due to have their State recognized in the UN thanks to Lebanon and Qatar assuming leadership positions. Anyone other than Netanyahu (or Feiglin) will not be able to withstand the pressure of it. This is not the time for elections and you know it. As for the protestors, their list of demands is so long - and keeps getting longer by the day - that at this point they will never be satisfied with anything the government will offer them. The next thing you know, they will be demanding free internet as well as free food. These protestors do not speak for me and I'm at least 50 times poorer than any of them. We have to choose between running the a/c and doing laundry some weeks just to keep our power bill down. But I still prefer that to having the government constantly sticking its hands in my pockets. Are there problems? Yes. Is this the way to achieve them? No. If you want to drive down prices on everything across the board, boycotts are the way to go - the risk of food spoiling and stores losing money will bring prices down. Throwing hissy fits in the street like 2 year olds won't do anything.

You have to be kidding me. What kind of unstable government system are you trying to have in Israel? Every time someone complains we should new elections? Last time I checked, Israel was doing pretty well, no need for new elections. Give me a break

Close yediot

everyone else is stupid, backward, terrorist and jihadist. thank you mainstream media journo for once again pointing out who is "smart". For example, Tsipi Livni is smart, very very smart, that's why she's shrieking like a harpy all the time.

There is absolutely no reason to call for elections. The government has never been more stable in the history of the country. The left seem to hate democracy.

Eat yout heart out. You did not give him six months in office. He is close to filling his term.He is a true leader we need him.

If Israel went to ballots every time somebody was unhappy, there would be no governing. Only elections.

This article is pure rubbish. There is no cause for elections now. Leftists are pushing for them because they believe, falsely, they will win. Netanyahu's government has the right and the duty to continue to govern Israel until the next mandated election or until the opposition succeeds in bringing down the government. But elections simply to please leftists. Absurd!

None of us really know what percentage of Israelis support or oppose or are neutral about the housing protests. This will once and for all show Israel's stance on it. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Knesset stayed pretty much the same, give or take a few different seats, and then re-elected Bibi to another term.

Why is Esperon in such a hurry? These "popular" protests so far have involved fewer than 5% of the populace despite active promotion by the media (most especially by Ynet) who never liked Netanyahu in the first place. Are we now to simply bring down a stable government because some people lack the patience to allow the government to do its job? That's not democracy; that's rule of the mob.

are close and the people must FAST and PRAY for PEACE in Jerusalem and for their leaders so Ha'Shem can mold them into what He wants them to be. What are the dangers? There are many, many ELS Torah code warning prophecies in Michael Drosnin's book "Bible Code III" for 5771 which on the Moses calendar began Spring 2011 and ends Spring 2012. Most of the prophecies for 2011 involve atomic attacks. The Av 9 was delayed or averted by YHWH's attention to His people on earth who fasted and prayed for His intervention. Elul 3 is in the codes for a confirmation of some kind followed by a mega-terror atomic attack on Elul 10. Elul 3 in 2011 is September 2 and Elul 10 is September 9. "Bunker, all his people to war, obama, time for battle" "New York, atomic, 5771". 3 Elul confirmation, End 10 Elul, mega terror attack, atomic." "Atomic holocaust, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv." "War of Obama, President, 5771". Some of the warnings have Osama bin Laden in them, so with his death those have been averted. Michael Drosnin, the author of Bible Code III thinks that if Pakistan's nuclear weapons are destroyed along with the nukes Pakistan gave to Yemen, that a lof ot prophecies can be averted.

you should act as your name suggests and run for the nearest high point. The one obvious fact about these protests is that they are cross-societal and cross-party. It's time you deleted the word Left from your vocabulary, presuming of course you have other words in it.

Ynet, the far leftist rag is trying with all its might to politicize this housing protest. Padding the protesters numbers, fanning the flames. Reality tells us that the majority of Israelis are happy with Netanyahu as opposed to the Livni Olmert Barak crowd who did NOTHING for Israel but set it on a program of self destruction, appeasing our enemies, destroying Jewish moral. Israelis LIKE Leiberman. Unlike Ynet, he understands the proble and has the solution. He is clear, factual and stands up for the people of Israel. So...NO.... you are way off base with thismeant-to- stir-up-trouble article

Looks like mainstream Israelis are not too impressed with the Netanyahu coalition of religious freaks and their march toward theocracy. Maybe if Netanyahu had paid more heed to the social needs of the Israeli people, rather than funding the illegal settlements, then perhaps now he might not be caught between a rock and a hard place. Either way he's on his way out, either through resignation or elections - the Jewish spring always delivers on its promises.

The offered cure - general elections - will be just another false trick with the same card cheats using the same marked pack of cards to get the same tired old pack of liers into Knesset, and next day to forget all their promises to the voter. Until the voting system is not drastically chaged - no cure in elections!

So much for the protests not being politicized. They've been politicized all along by the left who think they're in a "FaceBook" movie where they can bring down an elected government.

Please be fair: Compared to Jpost or Haaretz - both of which are completely controlled by the Stalinist and the Obamabot-Soros-Jstreet coterie - Ynet still prints pro-Israeli posts along with the most vile, antisemitic opinions. Without Ynet the Pro-Israeli voices would be stifled altogether under the relentless pressure of the Obama-Jews emissaries which have an inordinate influence over the media.

world cannot be coincidence. Somebody is pumping big money into leftist organisations to create unrest at the drop of a pin. All the reasons are the same - social issues, with democracy thrown in where applicable. Israel: high prices, Britain: high prices (they claim) with unemployment, and high prices for food and tertiary education), the Arab world: democracy and reform. A pattern is emerging. The Muslim Brotherhood is waiting in the wings to be installed throughout the ME. The time is ripe for protests and revolutions where all that is needed is something to trigger it, like self-immolation (Tunisia) or cops shooting someone (Britain, never mind that people there are getting killed every day). They all start small and then grow big when the sheep follow the goats and the adrenaline flows. With the global economy spiraling downward it is easy to sell the socialist cause and inspire people to protest.

I am not suprised all these American talkbackers attack this thoughtful and logical column by Yoel Esteron. They are not here and they never understand what is going on in Israel this summer. The protesters are not leftists, and reading Esteron columns in calcalist, it is pretty obvious he does not belong to the left. Early elections may prevent a disaster, but I guess you in your safe American cities, don't really care

What total nonsense you are tottaly clueless. The protests sweeping Israel is for social justice for Israeli citizens of which you are not, agains the high cost of living. You were not in tel aviv with the protesters, you have no idea what so ever and quite frankly its none of your bussiness. While you are sitting in your arm chair we are out protesting , doing what we can to improve living standards for all Israelis. This is nothing to do with left wing or right wing.

Millions of shekels. Wasted. And a lot of trash from electioneering mucking up the streets of Israel. Got any BETTER ideas??

The Facebook Party is over. Those 10%of the people at the base of the economic pyramid should be compensated. Those, asking for affordable homes, should be helped. But Leftists trying to steal the show must be told that their sterile manuvers are well known.