In May 2010 the Free Gaza Movement launched a flotilla to deliver
humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and challenge Israel’s blockade of
the strip. This was the ninth mission the Free Gaza Movement had
launched, although the last three missions had been blocked by the
Israeli Navy. This flotilla included eight ships, while the past
flotillas had only included one or two.
On 14 June 2010, the High Court of Israel ruled to abolish state grants given to students at Jewish seminaries, or yeshivas. Prior to this decision married yeshiva students with children had received these grants to support their studies, but for nearly ten years secular students of higher education had not. The Knesset had passed a bill in 2000 ceasing stipends of secular students. Soon after this, Ornan Yekutieli, a Jerusalem councilman and activist, petitioned the Knesset to end the support of yeshiva students as well.
In February 2012, Israel saw its first general strike in five years. Histadrut, the General Federation of Labor in Israel, organized a general strike to fight for the rights of contracted workers. The number of employees who worked for contractors rather than direct employers had grown steadily and immensely in Israel. Because of this outsourcing approximately 250,000 Israeli workers had lost their benefits and pensions. These workers were also paid on average thirty percent less than workers who were hired directly doing the same or similar jobs.
On 29 June 2003, the Israeli Ministry of Finance amended the Hok HaHasderim, a bill passed in 1985 in order to combat existing hyperinflation and aid in the creation and development of an austerity program. The late June amendment enormously decreased single mothers’ welfare allowances. Single mothers across the nation, who were already struggling to make ends meet, were both hurt and angered by the amendment. On 2 July 2003, one such woman, a 43-year-old single mother named Vicky Knafo, marched two-hundred and fifty kilometers from her home in Mitzpe Ramon to Jerusalem.
On 14 July 2011, Daphni Leef, a freelance filmmaker, began a campaign to be known as the “Tent Revolt” or “Tentifada.” Leef, like many middle-class citizens in Tel Aviv and in the nation of Israel, faced great financial hardships in an economy that statistically should have provided a level of comfort. Barely able to afford her home, Leef created a Facebook page, inviting those with similar grievances to pitch tents on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv Thursday of that week in order to convince the government to lower housing costs.
