American conservative radio host Glenn Beck took aim at Israel's 'social protests' comparing organizers to "communists."
In a video clip from Beck's show entitled "Radical leftists protest in Israel" posted on his website, Beck criticized the protesters' demands for guaranteed housing, raising the minimum wage, and providing daycare for children aged three months.
"That worked out well for the Soviets," Beck said sardonically when told about the protesters' demands.
Beck suggested solving the housing shortage by building in Judea and Samaria and questioned where the protesters' funding came from.
"Why even look if there is any leftist global financing involved?" Beck asked. "Do not look to see if there is any Islamist movement that is joining them."
Israel's 'social protests' have been driven by self-described left-wingers and have often taken a radical tenor.
Some issues raised by the protests, however, such as establishing anti-trust laws, lowering the indirect tax burden and costs for food paid by Israelis, and increasing low cost construction, have broad centrist support and appeal in Israel.
A large proportion of the population has been galvanized by the protests to expect the government to do something about those issues, but when questioned, most realize that Israel should not spend money that it does not have and expect responsible, achievable changes from the committee set up by PM Netanyahu.