Supporting doctors by joining march

Livni joins doctors' protest march

Opposition leader calls on prime minister to bear burden of medical crisis saying he 'can't stick his head in the sand, remain uninvolved'

Nir Cohen|Last update: 07.28.11 , 12:12

The Medical Association president may be approaching Jerusalem on his protest march but the doctors' strike is still far from over.

On Thursday, the 115th day of the strike, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni and Knesset Member Rachel Adatto (Kadima) joined Medical Association President Dr. Leonid Edelman and four other doctors on their march to Jerusalem. Edelman is also on the fourth day of a hunger strike.

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Meanehile, dozens of senior doctors and residents from the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon marched through Bat Yam in protest of their employment conditions. In Nahariya, some 30 residents marched from the hospital to the city center. Dozens of doctors from the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera blocked a road in the city.

Livni called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start carrying the weight of the burden of a country in crisis.

Edeleman said that negotiations with the treasury are at a standstill: "We are continuing our march; there has been no progress in negotiations. Meetings we held in the last few days also failed to achieve any progress. I will continue to march until the government decides to rescue the public health system."

Livni en route to Jerusalem (Photo: Itzik Edri)

The Kadima party chairwoman said she had joined the march to "identify with the doctors' justified struggle," adding: "They just want to meet with the prime minister. It's time to stop using the word treasury. There is a government in Israel, there is a prime minister and it's time for them to handle this severe crisis".

The opposition leader claims that "the ostrich trick just doesn't work anymore. The prime minister can't stick his head in the sand and remain uninvolved."

The protests are set to expand to a new sector of Israeli society later on Thursday as thousands of parents are expected to assemble on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Street and in other cities at 5:30pm for a march of the strollers – a protest against the high costs of raising a child in Israel.

One of the leaders of the campaign said they have received widespread support from women from all walks of life.

On Wednesday many doctors launched protest marches throughout the country demonstrating against the lack of progress in negotiations with the treasury.