Teachers and business owners took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday in two separate protests. Teachers and kindergarten workers protested at Habima Square, just outside the national theater, chanting “teachers and kindergarten workers demand rights!”
על רקע הכוונה להחזיר לפעילות את מוסדות החינוך בשבוע הבא, החלה הפגנת המורים והגננות בכיכר הבימה בתל אביב@Shira_HN pic.twitter.com/fWahVlwrDu
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 30, 2020
Business owners took to Rabin Square carrying banners, calling their demonstration “a bread protest.” The bread motive repeated in signs that said “if there is no bread, there is a loaf,” the joke is that the Hebrew word for loaf is the same for square (kikar).
Protesters wore masks and kept social distance from one another to follow the Health Ministry's coronavirus- related restrictions.
Teachers and kindergarten workers are concerned that the new policy suggested by the Education Ministry on how to resume studies will leave them exposed and without clear guidelines. Business owners feel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration failed to address their needs and point to some controversial decisions, among them the decision to allow Ikea to open, but not markets in Jerusalem. Additionally, many were upset when the administration offered banks the power to refuse loans despite creating a special state fund to help business to survive the financial crisis.