Press TV

An analyst says the economic condition in Israel is deteriorating as Tel Aviv is facing stagflation with almost a quarter of the population in poverty, Press TV reports. In an interview with Press TV on Sunday, Kamel Wazne said a decline in Israel’s economic growth, rising unemployment and high prices do not bode well for the Israeli economy. “We have to remember also the people who live below the poverty line in Israel is (are) actually exceeding 23 percent of the population. So almost one quarter of the Israeli population live in poverty,” Wazne added. The analyst said Israeli officials may have to increase taxes and cut funding for education welfare which, combined with the decline in Tel Aviv’s exports and foreign investment, would result in growing protests and demonstrations. “Overall, the picture doesn’t look good for the Israeli economy nor for the average Israeli and that is reflected on the street in Tel Aviv and I think a lot of people are going to demonstrate against any increase in taxes and this probably could be the beginning of a stage known in economics as stagflation - a mix of beginning recession and high prices,” Wazne said. Thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest the economic policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration and mark the two-year anniversary of 2011 social protests in Israel. The organizers of the demonstration said the protest also marked the anniversary of Moshe Silman’s self-immolation. In July 2012, 57-year-old Silman poured gasoline over his body and set himself alight during a demonstration held to mark the first anniversary of the social-justice protests that swept Israel in 2011. He died of his injuries on July 20. Israeli social activist Daphni Leef said, “We do not have another two years to wait. We are dealing with an aggressive policy that leads to poverty on the one hand and brain drain on the other. This is a good enough reason to resume our protest.” Speaking to the protesters, Leef called Saturday night's protest "an opening for a new season of protest,” adding, "Response to thieves should be revolution - bread and medicine are not the objective." MYA/NN/HMV