Che Guevara image at protest
Che Guevara image at protestScreenshot

Regev Kontas, one of four young people who are considered to be the leaders of the housing protest tent cities, denied Sunday that the protests are meant to topple the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.

"It's the first time in Israel that such a huge crowd has gathered just to protest that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer," he told Arutz Sheva, and emphasized that the tent cities include people from "the West Bank" (Judea and Samaria) and Likud supporters. 

"We do not demand the end of the Netanyahu government," he said, "just that they listen and improve…"

"We want the country back," explained Kontas – who, like the other protest leaders, comes from a left-leaning family that is financially comfortable. "We are the ones who pay taxes, we are the ones who go to the army. We are the ones that carry this country day after day on our shoulders. We are not communists, we are not socialists. We want the government to have compassion."