Tent city housing protest
Tent city housing protestIsrael news photo: Flash 90 Arutz Sheva: Flash 90

“Social justice” activists attended the annual Israeli Business Conference to proclaim “a new State of Israel -- The Social Justice state.”

The proclamation surprised the prestigious annual Israeli Business Conference, which was attended by senior political and business leaders, including Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Activists in Israel this past summer staged tent city protests in Tel Aviv and other urban centers. Starting out as the ”cottage cheese boycott” movement to bring down the price of the dairy prices, the movement spread to an all-encompassing demonstration against nearly every imaginable worry – from the price of housing to the legal status of marijuana.

The protest movement’s influence began to dwindle when the tent city protests began take on both a carnival and anarchist atmosphere, but it was credited for moving the government to take action to break up monopolies and change a built-in system that keeps prolongs a housing shortage and buoys prices.

The Declaration quotes and updates sections from the original Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel and reads,  

"We, the citizens of Israel, We are the people, and we are creating a new State of Israel -- The Social Justice state. The new State of Israel will be based on Liberty, Equality, Justice and Peace within a True Democratic regime.

“The new State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.

“The new State of Israel will assume full responsibility for all its inhabitants and ensure their right for food, shelter, clothing, proper livelihood, health, education, culture and a clean environment.”

After declaring economic equality and freedom from just about everything – from religion to “conscience” – it continues, "Right and Left, Religious and Secular, Jews and Arabs, Men and Women, Poor and Rich -- We all live here together. Fraternity and collaboration are our flag that will bring us prosperity.”