1,500 protest against budget across country
Protesters gather in front of PM Residence in Jerusalem, near Netanyahu's private home in Caesarea, march in Tel Aviv, Beersheba; 'There is no future with Bibi and Lapid,' protesters chant
Protesters gathered in front of the Jerusalem residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, carrying signs that read "Take from the wealthy, not from the public."
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MK Stav Shaffir (Labor), marching with protesters in Jerusalem, told Ynet "The budget that our new finance minister brought before the cabinet was exactly the same as the one handed in by Netanyahu. It's as if Netanyahu himself wrote it."
"It's a budget that ignores the Israeli citizen," she added.
Protesters in Jerusalem (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
At the same time, protesters gathered in front of the prime minister's private residence in Caesarea.
Referring to reports that some $127,000 were spent in addition to an already $300,000 flight in order to install a bedchamber in a plane carrying the prime minister and his wife to London, protesters in Caesarea brought an inflatable bed and cried out "There is no future with Bibi and Lapid."
Police demanded that protesters stay some 200 meters away from the house, but they refused, insisting there was no legal justification for keeping them away.
Inflating bed in Caesarea (Photo: George Ginsburg)
In Tel Aviv some 1,000 were marching, crying out against the new austerity measures.
Addressing recent reports regarding hiked expenses of the PM's Residence, organizers of the march posted on Facebook, "We're tired of hearing about luxury beds in the prime minister's planes. We're tired of hearing promises… being lied to."
Daphni Leef attended the Tel Aviv protest and said "I'd like to sit at home but I have no choice but to be here, because the country is falling apart. I invite everyone who made it (to the protest) today to make it next Saturday."
Oren Pasternak, one of the organizers of the Tel Aviv rally, said: "We are protesting against the fraud of the finance minister and the prime minister, who told us throughout the election campaign that taxing the middle and lower classes would be a red line."
"Instead of demonstrating how you take money from other places, they take from the middle class and the underprivileged.
'It's time to tax the rich.' Tel Aviv (Photo: Neri Brenner)
Protesters also gathered in Beersheba, waving banners reading "The Negev demands social justice" and "Everything is expensive and the treasury is cruel."
In Netanya, some 200 marched over to the house of businessman Yitzhak Tshuva, protesting his conduct in regards to gas profits. Protesters cried out "No to the tycoon State." Two people were arrested in the Netanya protest.
'Netanyahus lead modest life'
Referring to the public fury regarding the Netanyahu household expenses, the Netanyahu family lawyer, Yossi Cohen, said Saturday in a television interview with Israeli Channel 2 that he "would like to put things in proportion. The Israeli people must understand that the Netanyahus do not lead an extravagant lifestyle. They lead a very modest life.
"Come to the house and you'll see how modest it is," he added, noting that visitors to the prime minister's house would "see the rust, the cracking paint."
Regarding reports that the Netanyahus' expenses on makeup and cleaning have doubled since 2009, Cohen said "We put on makeup and dress well and we know that NIS 64,000 (roughly $17,500) for such a thing is not much if you want to dress and look your best when facing world leaders."
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