Hundreds of Israeli youngsters scuffled with police outside the parliament on Tuesday as MPs held a special debate on the huge cost-of-living protests sweeping the country, an AFP correspondent said. The demonstrations were timed to coincide with a special parliamentary session called during the Knesset's summer recess, to debate the government's handling of a growing wave of social discontent over the spiralling cost of living.
As the debate kicked off, around 500 protesters staged a march from the city centre towards the parliament, waving black flags and placards reading "Israeli 2011: A rich country with poor citizens" and shouting "We want social justice!" As they reached the Knesset, they suddenly began running towards the gates but were shoved back by a handful of parliamentary security guards and police, causing scuffles before they moved the protest to the nearby Rose Garden park.
"Clashes broke out between hundreds of protesters and police in front of the Knesset," police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP, saying two people were arrested. The parliamentary session comes after a month of unprecedented nation-wide protests against the high price of food, housing, education and health care which have seen hundreds of thousands of Israelis take to the streets to demand change.