Israeli consumers angry over cost-of-living hike
With the cost of living rising steeply, and with the poor getting even poorer, Israel’s government is facing plenty of angry citizens.
Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman entered the conference room of his faction in the Knesset Jan. 31, and, as usual, gave the journalists an opportunity to ask questions before the open microphones and cameras.
High on the agenda was the inflation wave that has swept the economy. One after the other, the large food companies announced that they were raising prices up to 15% of popular products such as pasta noodles and ketchup. Simultaneously, it was announced that fuel prices are expected to rise by about 5%. This is in addition to the prices of electricity that have already risen by 6%.
Mass protests have begun to appear in recent days in the social networks, including calls for boycotting pasta produced by Osem, Israel’s largest food company. In parallel, public anger was also directed at the Change coalition and at Liberman himself.
The finance minister refused to get flustered by the hard questions directed at him at the Knesset. Instead, he prided himself on the strengths of the Israeli economy. He said that the price rise of electricity has been the most moderate in the world. At the same time, he criticized the food manufacturers. The minister warned the food companies that “the situation mustn’t be cynically exploited,” and that he will take punitive measures if they go ahead with planned price hikes.
