In the summer of 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu felt the ground under him shake: Hundreds of thousands of Israelis filled the streets in protest over the cost of living and the housing crisis. The number of demonstrators from all walks of life grew with each week, in what became the largest popular protest in the history of the State of Israel.
In his efforts to stop the protest, which threatened to unseat him, in July Netanyahu convened a press conference with Minister of Housing Ariel Atias (Shas) and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz (Likud) at his sides.