A man blows a shofar at a camp on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard during a protest over property prices yesterday
Activists from Israel’s social protest movement reacted furiously yesterday after parliament passed a housing bill that they say will favour the rich and endanger the environment.
Police said that hundreds of demonstrators blocked intersections in cities across the country, ranging from the southern desert city of Beersheba to Kiryat Shmona in the far north. Others stopped traffic in downtown Tel Aviv.
A police spokeswoman said that six people were arrested, three in Tel Aviv and three in Beersheba.
Public radio said that protesters blocked a total of 10 major junctions nationwide.
Protest leaders are calling for mass rallies to be held on Saturday, a week after an estimated 100,000 Israelis took to the streets across the country in some of the largest demonstrations ever seen in the Jewish state.
They railed against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has defended the bill as a measure that will help bring down housing costs, accusing him of ignoring their protests.
Parliament’s website said that the government-sponsored bill to streamline planning and building formalities passed by 57-45 votes.
But opponents of the law  fear it will mainly encourage big developers to build luxury projects rather than affordable housing.
Green campaigners also say that streamlining planning procedures could result in construction without proper environmental safeguards.