Israeli Social Justice Protests Have 'Failed Miserably'

“We have failed miserably,” states philosopher-economist professor Yossi Yonah, one of the intellectual leaders of the social protest movement. “Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated on the streets, but we did not succeed in convincing them that without a comprehensive budgetary policy, no change can take place here.”

This explanation may encapsulate it all: While Finance Minister Yair Lapid, artist of the short, pithy expression, enjoys the political benefits of the protest, Yonah and his friends, with their complex messages and long lectures regarding "proper budgetary policy," have not succeeded in convincing voters.

During the social protest movement in the summer of 2011, Yonah circulated around the tents, fascinated and excited, and marched at the head of every possible demonstration. Then he talked about realizing his dreams, as someone who waited for years for the moment when the public would understand that they are being swindled, and would rebel. Later on he, with economist professor Avia Spivak, headed a team of experts that advised the tent protest leaders in front of the official committees that were founded in its wake. In the recent Labor party primaries, Yonah was elected to the 20th place on the list, but since the party only garnered 15 mandates, Yonah was left outside the Knesset walls. He intends to run again in the next elections.

The “Lapid decrees” bring Yonah back to his element. They are taking him out to the street again, and also provide some insights on the public that it disillusioned, and the Labor party that squandered an opportunity.