High living costs sparks more protests in Israel

Israelis have taken to the streets in many of the country’s major cities for the fourth week in a row to protest against high living costs.

By 9pm local time, at least 50,000 people across the country had turned out, according to police reports, for what is becoming a weekly occurrence.

In Haifa, where a concert took place as part of the demonstration, the number attending was about 25,000. In Tel Aviv, authorities say the protesters set up more than 1,000 tents.

The demonstrations were initially a response to soaring property prices, but now they have expanded into complaints about expensive food, petrol and education.

Under pressure from the movement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is willing to alter his economic approach and has set up a committee to look into the demands of the mainly middle class protesters. Recommendations for reform are due within a month.

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