and Yoaz is right. Instead of confusing government with charity, if you care you should volunteer your time (not other people's money) and do what no government can... a better job.

Sums up so much so accurately, with such balance and wisdom. I wish this guy was still working for the prime minister....

especially about the bourgeoisie revolution.

This article could have been only five words long and have conveyed the author's viewpoint totally: Sucks to be you, Moshe!

I know these leftist, the same movement that wanted "freedom" from Shah of Iran. Then they backstab everyone for money, working with islamist. These leftist done the same thing with Egypt, they KNOW islamist will win, but who cares ? they wanted the headlines. Same with these people in Israel, they WANTED the headlines. They know it's helping no one and will create anarchy in Israel. They WANTED the headlines.

... he's just the only one who set himself on fire. While the protestors are not "Moshe Silman," the country is indeed stock full of Moshe Silmans. And if the protesters on Rothschild Blvd fail to realize this, they may at least end up providing for the real people whose lives are to desperate and miserable to afford them to go out and protest.

The use of the self imolation is a tragedy that belongs clearly and exclusively to the psychiatric realm. That the protest movement has seazed upon this as its newest reliquary shows the abject poverty of their thinking. This has become a movement that originated with substance and has become meaningless. To use this type of imagery from Israel is to put the movement on an even level with the defaming hyperbole Presbyterian Church USA and NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.

What surprised me was the sense of loneliness. Where were his family? Neighbours? Friends? local synagogue? The incompetence of govt bureaucracy is no surprise!

seized Mr. Silman's act of self immolation as if it were food for their cause. In doing so, they debased and objectified Mr. Silman as a non-person. They made him as completely disposable as a piece of trash. Who is really the trash? Look in the mirror, protestors.

OK: everyone protesting there except Moshe is a spoiled tel-avivi. OK: every mother had an expensive stoller. The message then must be wrong and lack any value. Government is not to blame; the same protesters are to to blame. Because the people should "volunteer" and not demand from the government. Just for Yoav's info, Israel is so full of volunteer organizations doing the State's job, that I don't think there isn't any field lacking some kind of non-profit. Probably Yoav does live in Kfar Shmaryahu with daddy and mommy (or receives money from them), so he has no idea what is really happening.

To Leef & her pals this is about three quarters ego to one part compassion. For most the protestors it's largely the romance of being a revolutionary. Moshe Silman was one of those down on your luck people you find everywhere in the world and there was nothing any government could have practically done for him but he has now been turned into the poster boy for these protestors & leftist politicians. The government can and if Bibi keeps th promises he has already made will build some social housing but that won't eleviate poverty and mean there are no more Moshe Silmans in the country. What is needed now is not a romantic revolution it is an NGO that understands how the system works, economics and what is practical to ask government to do. As long as its mob rule and everybody has their own definition of social justice then the government will never be able to get it right because somebody is always going to want more.

Yeah, sure! The social protesters are to blame. The average citizen (who doesn't volunteer) who pays taxes is to blame. With phrases like "expensive trolleys" "white tribe" - the author is hinting at social/class warfare. If we don't want a social democratic style of state then repeal the socialized medicine, the bituach leumi, housing subsidies, etc Why do we pay close to 50% income tax plus 17% vat if not to accomodate the less fortunate and the weak among us. Yes, volunteering is commendable but not the answer. We are not the USA and never will be.

What does "social justice" mean? It means whatever it's proponents want it to mean. If they want it to mean higher taxes; that's what it means. If they want it to mean more government intervention; that's what it means. If they want it to mean endless handouts; that's what it means. They normally want it to mean all these things. Justice is a legal term. "Social justice" is a pseudo legal term intended to promote a destructive leftist agenda.

All this verbal incontinence has in it only ONE valuable sentence: "It is possible to make it easier for the needy, revive the tradition of public housing and show social sensitivity." Indeed! Everyone who had the experience of contact with the rhino of Israeli State bureaucracy - would agree. The rest is just a verbal... well, you got the idea.

It appears your own bias caused you to totally miss the point of the article. He didn't dismiss the problems nor the current state of Silman. He did take to task the Leftist protesters who now cynically use Silman as their poster child for their own agenda, but won't actually help people like Silman who are in need. And that's true. Usually the loudest protesters are the ones who do very little for anyone. Those who are silent are usually busy helping people in need. Always been this way.

As a participant in both the Israeli social justice protests and in the Occupy movement in NYC, I can tell you that most of these people already volunteer much of their time to social services. But their fed up with the government not doing enough to support them and their beliefs in the value of other human beings like Moshe Silman. So now their volunteering their time to making it known that their fed up. I'm reminded of a lyric from Les Miserables: It is time for us all To decide who we are Do we fight for the right To a night at the opera now? Have you asked of yourselves What's the price you might pay? Is it simply a game For rich young boys to play? The color of the world Is changing day by day... The world is changing and your bloviating about the deficiencies of the fine men and women who are dedicating their time and energy to creating that change will not stop it.

When I am in Israel, I spend a great deal of time visiting with the rapidly dwindling community of Holocaust survivors. I do it to honor the memory of my parents, who were also Holocaust survivors. They are all old, nearly all are in frail and in poor health, and they are ALL extremely lonely. Most say that no one visits them. So no more crap out of you about who volunteers what to social services. I cannot think of a single more deserving group than Holocaust survivors. You know -- the ones that lost so much and created, with back-breaking labor, a place that Jewish people can call home. Yet these people are ignored by the spoiled, selfish, demanding "protesters" such as yourself. The biggest issue on your -- and their -- agenda is whether to have a macchiato or a latte. You are just a common, garden-variety idiot. Why not get a job and make yourself useful? Aren't you old enough to be living on your own? What do you want to bet your parents have grown sick and tired of your whining and leeching, too? Or are you too busy dedicating your "time and energy" to creating "change?" Like what? Griping about standing in line at Starbucks? You and your ilk make me sick. You're a throwback to the 1960s, and that didn't work out all that well. (Unless, of course, you count Abbie Hoffman, who went on to become a highly-compensated Wall Street analyst.) Take your pious and highly fraudulent "compassion" and shove it. You don't know the meaning of the word.