"These people are anti-Zionists. I'm a Zionist, I think Jews should live in Israel," he said. "That doesn't change the fact that the cost of living is high here ... The cost of living is not the only question for a person to consider when deciding where to live and by which values."
So, complaints of the high cost of living in Israel,.. is anti-Zionist??
But, wait,.. what does the actual lead of this protest have to say?
The former army officer behind the protest said he still loves his country, defends it when it is slandered in Europe and would prefer to live in Tel Aviv but just can't afford it. He said his goal is to spur politicians like Lapid into action.
"My aim is to educate the Israeli government. They need to make Israel a more attractive place for young people," said the slim man with short-cropped black hair and dark brown eyes, in an interview the Associated Press in Berlin this week. He asked that his identity be withheld because he wants "the public to focus on the message, not on the messenger."
Ah, yes - clearly Israel is being victimized by this man.
Sergio Della Pergola, a leading demographer from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Israeli emigration has actually dropped considerably in recent years and those who did leave were headed primarily to the United States and Canada, not Europe. He said the latest central Bureau of Statistics figures showed that 2012 had the lowest emigration rate in decades. That same year, only 3,065 Israelis were documented as living in Berlin.
"There is a big gap between the mood and the facts," he said.
So, the biggest 'poacher' of Israelis,.. isn't even Europe, let alone Germany.
Ah!! now this makes sense,...
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once derided Israelis who left the country as "a cascade of wimps." Commentators have suggested he would be turning over in his grave if he knew about the Olim Le'Berlin group behind the come-to-Berlin campaign, whose name uses the Hebrew word typically reserved for Jews immigrating to Israel — "aliyah" — in describing its actions.
Even if the economic argument is justified, Israelis largely feel that giving up should remain out of bounds.
"What does any of that have to do with Berlin? What does any of that have to do with the disgusting trend of encouraging Israelis to emigrate?" columnist Ben Caspit wrote in Maariv. "The war over our home needs to be fought at home."
Yup - don't you dare leave for some place better - you are needed here. Well, at least they aren't shooting the people on their way out. So, let them kvetch over this 'exodus'.
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