In the Likud town of Kiryat Shemona, the protest camp that has taken root beside the town’s shopping mall recently succeeded in pressuring Shufersol, a supermarket chain, to lower its prices. This was a significant victory for the camp, which was joined by dozens of other protest camps throughout Israel’s periphery, who complained that they pay up to 30 percent more for their food than Israelis in the center of the country do, despite having similar income levels.

The protesters have also been active in bringing attention to what many consider the most fundamental issue affecting Israelis living in the periphery: social justice. At the Kiryat Shemona rally, I heard a man in his 50s tell how he grew up in a small family and that when their house became too crowded, they received government assistance to add two rooms. He said he doesn’t see this type of assistance today, and that it is scandalous that people who work hard can’t make ends meet.

In other legal news, the rabbi and professor who runs the Kiryat Shemona protest camp says that she hopes the demonstrations will lead to a change in the way Israeli government deals with economic disparities between the center of the country and its periphery. She is particularly concerned about the “equalization of opportunity” law, which has made it very difficult for kibbutzim to get funding from the central government for their infrastructure projects. עורך דין גירושין בקריות