Speaking Monday, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) slammed Israeli emigrants who complained about high prices in their home country from their new home in Berlin. Israelis, he said, would “survive” the latest attack on their country by those who abandoned it, and continue to build the country.
Edelstein was responding to an ongoing brouhaha in which hundreds of Israelis have chimed in on Facebook protesting high prices in the country. The latest “knock Israel” round was apparently started by an ex-IDF soldier who had gone to live in Berlin, claiming that it was the price of “Milky,” a chocolate and whipped cream treat, that had prompted him to leave the country. In a Facebook posting, the anonymous individual, who claimed to be an IDF combat veteran, said that he decided to look abroad “when I picked up a four-pack of Milky and put it down, thinking that I couldn't afford to buy it for my kids.”
That individual has not stepped forward, but other Israelis living in Berlin interviewed by Channels 1, 2, and 10 have – and all claimed that prices on everything were “better” in Berlin. Food, housing, clothing, and other prices were lower, and wages were higher, said most of the interviewees.
However, the story is a bit more complicated, an expert on German and European retail told Ha'aretz Monday. According to Bianca Casertano, Israelis would very likely be dissatisfied with the level of service and choice in German discount supermarkets. “You can wait 10 minutes for the cashier, or even 20 minutes,.” she told Haaretz. “In Britain, for example, it didn’t work, because the British aren’t willing to enter a store that isn’t clean or nice. So they improved the look of the place and the service, added a few brands and raised prices a little. There are virtually no brands there — more than 95% of the products are basic, cheap private-label brands,” and Israelis, who are very brand conscious, would likely be very dissatisfied with the very limited choice and lower quality of German discount store products – including discount Milky.
Speaking Monday, Edelstein said “we will leave those with the cheap Milky in Berlin and we will continue to build the land of milk and honey.”