User:Sreifa/Sandbox

Cottage cheese is a popular commodity in Israel which is widely perceived as an elementary food item by the Israeli public. The Tnuva cooperative controls more than 70% of the market share in this type of cheese, while the companies Strauss and Tara control the rest of the market. In August 2008 The Israeli finance minister Avraham Hirschson declared that the government would stop regulating the price of cottage cheese, which stood at 4.82 NIS, in order to encourage competition in this market.{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4084229,00.html |title=ynet הקוטג'גייט: שש הערות לסדר היום - כלכלה |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Zvi |last=Lavi}} Contrary to the expectations, within three years the price of cottage cheese rose by about 45% of the original price up to approximately 8 NIS.

Following a series of articles by Ilanit Chaim in the Israeli daily evening financial newspaper Globes which covered the surge in food prices and the general cost of living in Israel, in June 2011 Itzik Alrov opened a protest group on Facebook calling the Israeli public to avoid purchasing cottage cheese, as a first step in lowering the cost of living in Israel. Although the boycott was intended to begin on July 1, 2011, in the meantime it gained much publicity in the media{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4081719,00.html |title=ynet קוטג' כמו ליטר בנזין: "הגיעו מים עד נפש" - חדשות |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Aviel |last=Magnezi}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4107124,00.html |title=ynet רוטשילד, אל תהרסו את המאבק - דעות |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Itzik |last=Elrov}}{{cite web|url=http://glz.co.il/NewsArticle.aspx?newsid=84792 |title=מחאת הקוטג' הצליחה |publisher=Glz.co.il |date=2011-06-15 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Eli |last=Hochenberg}}{{cite web|url=http://glz.co.il/NewsArticle.aspx?newsid=84792 |title=גלי צה"ל און-ליין - מחאת הקוטג' הצליחה |publisher=Glz.co.il |date=2011-06-15 |accessdate=2011-09-25}} and soon thereafter tens of thousands of Facebook users joined the protest group, and the total amount of members in the group soon passed 100,000. Due to the wide popularity of the cause, eventually the beginning of the boycott was moved up to mid-June 2011. Later on, the organizer of the protest page published a call through the facebook protest page to only purchase cottage cheese at the price of less than 5 NIS, and later on also called to boycott other dairy products.{{cite web|url=http://www.themarker.com/markets/1.656978 |title=הקוטג' הוא הסימפטום: "הצרכנים משלמים את מחיר הריכוזיות" |publisher=Themarker.com |date=2011-06-17 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew }}http://reshet.ynet.co.il/חדשות/news/Economics/Consumers/Article,72032.aspx

After the Zehavit Cohen, the CEO of the private equity fund Apax Partners Israel which has a controlling interest in the Tnuva cooperative, announced that it would not lower the price of the cottage cheese, other Facebook protest groups were established which now called to boycott all of Tnuva's products.{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000657832 |title=הציבור רותח: קבוצות בפייסבוק קוראות להחרים את תנובה - גלובס |publisher=Globes.co.il |date=June 26, 2011 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first=Ilanit |last=Hayut |language=Hebrew}}

As a result of the public protest, the opposition initiated a debate on the matter in the Knesset.{{cite web|url=http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=808086 |title=קוטג' הוגש לנתניהו בעקבות המחאה. חברי כנסת: בזיון וזילות |publisher=News.nana10.co.il |date=June 15, 2011 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first=Omri |last=Nehemias |language=Hebrew}} Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that they will begin examining the possibility to import dairy products from abroad in order to encourage competition in the Israeli dairy market. In addition, the Israeli minister of finance announced that the dairy products prices which are regulated by the government, would continue to be regulated by the government for the time being. State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss announced also that he would also inspect the the rising cost of dairy products.{{cite web|url=http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=809200 |title=מבקר המדינה יבדוק את מחירי הקוטג', נתניהו: נשקול לייבא מוצרי חלב |publisher=News.nana10.co.il |date=June 20, 2011 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first1=Omri |last1=Nehemias |first2=Matan |last2=Hoderov |language=Hebrew}} Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin attacked the Tnuva cooperative when he stated "You purchase a domestic product, but the money goes abroad."{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4088503,00.html |title=ריבלין נגד תנובה: קונים כחול-לבן, והכסף לחו"ל |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first=Moran |last=Azulai |language=Hebrew}}

The Kadmi Committee which examine the Israeli dairy farm handed its recommendations to the government in which it stated that the increase in the margin of retail chains is the main cause for the rise in prices of dairy products, it was followed by the margin contributed to the largest dairy manufacturers, while the smallest contributer to the rising of the milk prices were the Israeli dairy farmers.{{cite web|url=http://www.calcalist.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3524668,00.html |title=הוועדה לבדיקת משק החלב ממליצה: הורדת מחיר המטרה והגדלת היבוא |publisher=Calcalist.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew }} Following these recommendations, as a first step, the Minister of Finance, signed a bill which would reduce customs on imports of hard cheeses.{{cite web|url=http://www.calcalist.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3526818,00.html |title=צעד ראשון באימוץ מסקנות קדמי: שטייניץ חתם על צו לפתיחת משק החלב לייבוא |publisher=Calcalist.co.il |date=2011-08-03 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first1=Tal |last1=Litman |first2=Mark |last2=Shawn}} The Israeli dairy farmers, which considered themselves to sustain the most damage from the implementation of the new reduced customs bill, began protesting against it.{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4104173,00.html |title=5,000 רפתנים צעדו: "העם דורש חלב ישראלי" |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=2011-08-03 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Boaz |last=Filer}}

The Israeli retail chain stores reported that sales dropped dramatically following the cottage protest and as a result several retail chains announced that they would significantly reduce the retail price of cottage cheese and cream cheese.{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4084725,00.html |title=שופרסל תמכור 2 קוטג' ב-10 ש' ללא הגבלת זמן |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=2011-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Meirav |last=Cristal}}

After many days in which the milk cooperatives kept silent, eventually Ofra Strauss, the Chairperson of Strauss Group, broke the silence when she stated that: "We were wrong. The cost of food is too high" and added that "the difference between high-tech and consumer products is that we can not ignore what is happening to people".{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4084795,00.html |title=עפרה שטראוס: "טעינו; יוקר המזון הוא מכה" |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Tani |last=Goldstein}} The next day, Zehavit Cohen, the CEO of Tnuva, announced that Tnuva would refrain from rising the price of the dairy products before the year ends but it would not lower the price. However, five days after her declaration Tnuva succumbed to the boycott and announced on the reduction of prices by about 12.5% to 5.90 NIS.{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000657535 |title=זהבית כהן: "גם אם יכניסו הקוטג' לפיקוח המחיר יירד 0-50 אגורות" |publisher=Globes.co.il |date=June 24, 2011 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first1=Hillel |last1=Koren |lfirst2=Doron |last2=Avigad |language=Hebrew}} Nevertheless, the protest organizers claimed that the price is still too high and that the boycott would continue until the price of cottage cheese dropped to 5 NIS. Shortly thereafter, all the Israeli milk cooperatives announced that they would lower the cottage prices.{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4088885,00.html |title=אחרי תנובה: כל חברות החלב הוזילו את הקוטג' |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=2011-06-30 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first1=Tani |last1=Goldstein |first2=Meirav |last2=Cristal}} The "Blue Square" supermarkets network, which operates the "Mega" supermarket chain, announced that they would drop down the basic commodities by 10%. The Shufersal supermarket chain announced that they would reduced the cottage cheese to 5.9 NIS.{{cite web|url=http://www.themarker.com/consumer/prices/1.662206 |title=מגה: נוזיל ב-10% את מוצרי היסוד; שופרסל: הקוטג' יוזל ל-5.9 שקלים |publisher=Themarker.com |date=2011-06-29 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |language=Hebrew |first=Adi |last=Dovrat-Mazritch}}

Due to the cottage cheese protests, the Israeli companies Soglowek and Osem, which both do not produce dairy products, also announced that they would suspend the planned price increases for their products.{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4085708,00.html |title=הצלחה למאבק: זוגלובק ואסם לא יעלו מחירים |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=June 23, 2011 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first=Meirav |last=Cristal |language=Hebrew}}

• Israel Dairy Board
• 2011 Israeli housing protests

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• {{cite web|author=June 15, 2011, 11:30am |url=http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/138681/ |title=Facebook Revolutions: The Great Israeli Cottage Cheese Boycott? Forward.com |publisher=Blogs.Forward.com |date=2011-06-15 |accessdate=2011-09-25 |first=Renee |last=Ghert-Zand}}
• {{cite web|author=Ted Thornhill |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023688/Complaints-cottage-cheese-prices-spark-protests-Israel.html |title=Complaints over cottage cheese prices spark protests in Israel | Mail Online |publisher=Dailymail.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2011-09-25}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/03/israel-cheese-idUSL6E7J30HI20110803 |title=Israel reduces barriers to cheese imports |publisher=Reuters |date=August 3, 2011 |accessdate=2011-09-25}}
• {{cite web|last=Gilinsky |first=Jaron |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/chutzpah-or-economics-1.378314 |title=Chutzpah or economics? |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2011-08-12 |accessdate=2011-09-25}}
• {{cite web|last=Dovrat |first=Adi |url=http://www.haaretz.com/themarker/cottage-cheese-protesters-call-for-total-dairy-boycott-1.374349 |title=Cottage cheese protesters call for total dairy boycott |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2011-07-21 |accessdate=2011-09-25}}

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