Earlier this week I observed: "while many Israelis living inside the Green Line are protesting the painful costs of unrestrained free market capitalism that has left them behind, Israelis living in the West Bank are enjoying an economic model that resembles nothing so much as state-led socialism - a model that ensures that even the richest settler enjoys benefits that the poorest Israeli can only dream of."

Now longtime Israeli politician Haim Ramon is saying pretty much the same thing in an August 4th interview published in Maariv:

Back on July 19th APN joined Peace Now (Israel) in calling for a boycott of settlement products.  We did so in response to the flagrantly anti-democratic anti-boycott law passed recently by the Knesset - the clear goal of which is to stifle protest against settlements and the Israeli government's continued support of settlements and settlement expansion. 

Since then I've received a deluge of responses from people applauding this move by APN and Peace Now, and expressing their own intent to boycott settlement products.  Many said they actually have been boycotting settlement products for years (as I have done) but now will do so even more proudly, knowing that the act represents not only a statement of protest against settlements, but defiant support for the democratic values that American Jews believe must remain a central part of Israel's character. 

Now anyone who shares these sentiments with APN (and has a twitter and/or facebook account) can show their solidarity by adding the "I Boycott Settlement Products" button (a "twibbon" for those familiar with this sort of thing) to their profile photos.  You can get this new APN twibbon here.

The housing problem in Israel is not new.  It will also not be solved now.  It has no magic solution, and this is not the sort of thing that changes dramatically following a cabinet resolution or a Knesset law, unless somebody decides to build social housing on an unprecedented scale.  There is no such person, and if there were, I would suggest that he beware of such a move.

Thousands of Israelis are in the streets protesting high housing costs.  It is an amazing, indeed, stunning development.  Israelis from all walks of life are fed up with Israel's wealth gap as it continues to widen.

These protests are not about Netanyahu's policies regarding the Palestinians or the settlements. But let no one be confused: these protests shine a bright spotlight on policies of the Netanyahu government regarding settlements.