Housing in Israel
The summer protest season is showing signs of longevity. The trail of tents fills not only Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, but streets throughout the country. Young people demonstrated last night against the high price of housing, and filled the streets of Tel Aviv.
Ordinarily one might wonder what this has to do with the Jews of the Diaspora. After all, real estate costs lie in the realm of economics, not Jewish identity or visions of Zionism. Moreover, what have Jews in the US or France to do with the economic policies of the sovereign state of Israel?
And yet the beauty and the challenge of the Zionist enterprise lies precisely where visions and dreams meet the reality of the modern world. Though it seems like ancient history, Borochov’s vision of a Marxist Zionism was once a burning aspect of pre-State Zionism, clashing with the economic liberalism of the first president Chaim Weizmann.
And now, as tents sprout in the summer heat, where might World Jewry meet the prosaics of Israeli society?
As we applaud the commitment of those lovers of Israel who make the huge statement of buying an apartment in Israel, should we also wonder out loud how much rent are they charging in their absence, and to what extent their superior buying power is a force for good in Israel?
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