Protesting the cost of living in Haifa, years ago
Protesting the cost of living in Haifa, years agoChen Leopold, Flash 90

Most Israelis do not believe the government's promises to lower the cost of living, and are convinced that they need to take to the streets to protest, Maariv reported.

The poll, conducted for Maariv by Panels Politics, showed that 67% of Israelis do not believe that the government wants to reduce the cost of living in Israel, despite promises by senior government officials, among them the Prime Minister and Finance Minister. Less than a third of Israelis, just 30%, believe the government's statement of its intentions to lower prices.

A full 79% of Israelis believe that the public should take to the streets in a fashion similar to the social protest, often dubbed the "cottage cheese protest," of the summer of 2011.

Analysis of the data shows that support for protests is higher among women (83%) than among men (75%), and higher among those under age 44 (82%) than among those age 60 or over (73%). Haredim (82%), secular Israelis (80%), and traditional Israelis (79%) all support the protest more than religious Israelis (72%).

A separate survey, conducted by the Tefen group, showed that 81% of respondents believe that the plan presented recently by the government will help them manage the rise in the cost of living.

That survey also showed that most of the respondents (42%) believe that social protests and product boycotts will help manage the rise in prices. Thirty-seven percent (37%) believe that a supervised government plan would solve the problem, compared to 18% who said that the solution is to raise wages. Another 3% said that nothing will help mitigate the rise in the cost of living.