Push for Israelis to move to Berlin causes an uproar

TEL AVIV, Israel — Naor Narkis says he was just trying to help fellow Israelis decide about moving when he posted a store receipt from Germany on Facebook.

The receipt shows a popular chocolate pudding costs only 23 cents in Berlin, while it sells for 80 cents in Tel Aviv. Narkis used that receipt to create his "Move to Berlin" initiative on Facebook to spur Israelis to emigrate to Germany, where he says there are more jobs and a cheaper cost of living.

The movement set off a controversy in Israel that has dominated headlines and forced top officials to step into the fray.

"I didn't think all this would cause such a national uproar," Narkis, 25, a former Israel Defense Forces officer, recently told Israeli Channel 10 news after trying to remain anonymous for weeks.

Many Israelis are outraged that Narkis and others are encouraging people to move to the former capital of Nazi Germany — an unthinkable destination for Jews after the Holocaust during World War II. Underlying the furor, though, is the main point that Berlin has employment opportunities, as well as reasonably priced real estate and groceries, including the pudding.

"In Israel, it takes about 157 months of wages on average to buy an apartment, while in Germany, it is about 70," Narkis told Paste BN.

Narkis, who moved to Berlin five months ago, has been called a traitor and said he received death threats for advocating emigration.

"Zionism sees Israel as national home for the Jews," he said. "But when they call me anti-Zionist, I tell them I have no home in Israel. I was an officer in the army, but I don't have a home to protect because it is so expensive."

So far, thousands of people have signed onto his Facebook page and its appeal to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to issue thousands of work visas for young Israelis.

The Move to Berlin initiative held a recent "meet up" to exchange information about ways to leave Israel, a country established in 1948 to be the Jewish homeland.

Edna Lilat, 40, of Tel Aviv, joined the dozens who attended because she said her family is not making it financially anymore.

"I'm thinking we should move to Berlin — but anywhere in Germany or Europe would be better for us than here," she said. "Our problem is not an apartment, it is the overall cost of living. … Salaries have not been raised in the past six years, but our expenses have almost doubled. We barely make it each week."

According to a recent survey by TRI Strategic Surveys for Channel 10, more than one-third of Israelis polled had considered leaving the country.

Ben Caspit, a columnist for the Maariv newspaper, wrote that, sure, people can pay less in Berlin for pudding. "But the question is, what will you tell your grandchildren or even your children in Germany … that after 2,000 years of exile you took them to the scene of the worst crime against the Jews because rent was too high in Tel Aviv?"

The Move to Berlin initiative is not entirely new. The Israeli embassy in Germany estimated more than 15,000 Israelis have arrived in Berlin since 2011, after the "Rothschild Boulevard" protests in Tel Aviv that coincided with the Occupy Movement in the United States, along with the Arab Spring demonstrations in this region.

In Tel Aviv then, protesters occupied tony Rothschild Boulevard for three months in a demonstration initially sparked by the high price of cottage cheese in local groceries.

Berlin these days is dotted with Israeli start-ups. A street in the Kreuzberg district is informally called "Little Tel Aviv" because so many Israelis live there.

Still, some young Israelis say this influx isn't just about the costs and jobs.

"More and more of my friends have been spending their summers in Berlin, because we have had a war almost every summer," said Dani Issler, who moved to Berlin a year ago from Tel Aviv.

"The political debate in Israel is the top reason for Israelis moving," he added. "The factors drawing them to Berlin, such as its rich cultural scene and affordability, only come in second and third place."

The idea of young Israelis moving en masse to Berlin is unlikely, but the disgruntled have a point, said Tel Aviv University economist Manuel Trajtenberg.

"The whole thing about Berlin is symptomatic and a symbol. It's a sign of a deeper discontent," said Trajtenberg, who chaired a committee appointed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the issues raised by the 2011 protests.

Trajtenberg said the government ignored his committee's recommendations to alleviate the housing shortage and skyrocketing prices. "Not only have prices not gone down, they have gone up for the last three years, so the situation is significantly worse now," he said.

Until things improve, some young Israelis don't see a future at home.

"I understand those who are moving to Berlin, and I even agree with them," Finance Minister Yair Lapid told Israel HaYom newspaper. "We cannot continue to pay these prices."

Obermueller reported from Berlin.