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SV Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin stepping out of cat at Knesset in Jerusalem
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SV PAN Defence Minister Ezer Weizman out of car and into building
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SV PAN Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan out of car and into building
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CU PAN Israeli shoppers in supermarket at Dizengoff shopping centre, Tel Aviv
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CU PAN Racks of clothes
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SV Shop assistant at till
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SV Woman shop assistant standing
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SV PAN Shoes on rack
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SV Boy trying on shoes
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SV Shopper speaking
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SHOPPER: "First of all I don't think you're referring to the right address by not buying. If you should protest, you should protest like in the States by not buying meat or by not buying shoes. I am for example buying new shoes. Or anything else. Or not buying bread. I don't think we should just out of the blue, just strike against everyone in the world. Strike maybe against the government who are in principle the main cause for this huge inflation we're experiencing now."



Shopkeepers talking to reporters about the real effect of the one-day consumer boycott said that while the large retailers were affected, small shopkeepers had a bonanza. They reported that shoppers rushed to stock up during the morning. One protestor, picketing outside a shop, said that this strike and future ones are designed to show consumers their own power.




Initials BB/



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The Israeli Cabinet met on Tuesday (28 November) to discuss the budget for the new year. One of the main problems facing the government is inflation, which has been running at an annual rate of forty per cent this year. Israeli Trade Unions called a consumer strike on Wednesday (29 November) to protest against what they call unreasonable price increases. And Israel's economic future is now linked with the outcome of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Although Israelis are overjoyed at the prospects of peace, their hopes that it would also herald new economic benefits are receding rapidly.

SYNOPSIS: Prime Minister Menachem Begin's cabinet voted in early November to set up two government committees to study the economic prospects of peace. The Defence Ministry headed by Ezer Weizman is currently involved in determining the costs to Israel of handing back the Suez Gulf oilfields to Egypt. And the Foreign Ministry, headed by Moshe Dayan, is involved in hard bargaining in Washington for financial assistance from the United States.

Israel's economy has been called fragile. And business fell by 60 to 70 per cent at Dizengoff shopping centre in Tel Aviv on Wednesday (29 November) during the evening rush hour. It was another in a series of consumer strikes and threatened strikes called by the Trade Unions to protest against inflation.

Consumer groups have promised more action, but at least one shopper buying shoes for his son disagreed with a total boycott and said the government is to blame.