Israel utopia reality is 24% in poverty
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Tue Aug 2, 2011 7:36AM GMT
Interview with Kamel Wazni, political analyst, Beirut.
Tens of thousands of Israelis protest the policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet which has been war, not examining the needs of its own people.
Press TV talks with Kamel Wazni, political analyst in Beirut about the popular protests that highlight divisions among the people of Israel and discusses internal discrimination as influences on the uprising. Following is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV Our discussion refers to policies adopted by the Netanyahu government, not just domestically, but regional policies such as the two-state solution and the Palestinian conflict. We have the prospect that the military campaigns that the Israeli regime, not just in Netanyahu's government, but in previous regimes in Israel has been implemented. How have these military campaigns affected the situation - because if people in Israel are saying that not much has been domestically - that means that a lot has been spent in the military sphere.
Kamel Wazni Well, that's a great point because that's what the people of Tel Aviv and throughout Israel are saying - that the country is spending a lot of money on military and a lot of money on wars and spending money catering to the rich in Israel.
There is a great divide within the country and it seems a great discrimination within the Jews - among themselves. Historically, Jewish history speaks very clearly - they are divided. Now it has emerged - the economy has brought up this division within Israeli society.
The facts are very clear. The level of poverty in Israel is great - over 24 percent according to statistics from the World Bank and from Israel's Central Bank are living below the poverty line; over one 1.6 million Israelis live below that line.
The priority for the Israeli government has been war and not addressing its own people. A very small announcement on Face Book two weeks ago mobilized the country and now Netanyahu sees he has a problem he didn't face before and it seems that his government is now facing the biggest challenge it might face in his time.
Press TV We have an Israeli university professor using the word 'ethnocracy' rather than democracy for Israel and he defines that word as a regime that facilitates the ethnitization and control of a dominant ethnic nation over contested territory.
Do you think this is the view that Israelis - speaking of those who live in Israel - share and that that could be a reason why they've turned out in the streets to protest?
Kamel Wazni As I said earlier there is a huge discrimination within Israeli society and we know there is always division between the Sephardic and the Hasidic and the Ashkenazi also and is all part of the European Jews first over Jews that came from the Middle East and it has always been the case within Israeli society.
Now the line is very clear between the group of Israelis where the money concentration is and the rest of Israel that lives under the poverty line. Things are getting very very expensive in Israel and the government is still catering to the rich at the expense of the poor.
That's why after a simple announcement in Face Book, within two weeks you had all major society within Israel coming out to demonstrate - from the teacher's union to the labor force to other unions - all coming to participate.
This tells us clearly that Jewish society is very much divided and this is a historical fact because as they are - they are divided even within religious ranks where reformist, conservative, orthodox and radical groups each has their own ideology and belief and they differ immensely ... On top of this you have a concentration on waging war while a quarter of the people in Israel live in extreme poverty.
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