Israel’s economic policies needed a root canal and the government proposals for change are merely superficial cleaning, social protest leaders said in a press conference on Tuesday, a day after the Trajtenberg Committee released its findings.

The protest leaders called the peoposals for socioeconomic change set forth by the state-formed committe a “blatant insult.”

The Trajtenberg Committee, formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to the massive wave of social protest this summer, submitted its final report on Monday recommending reforms in education, housing, labor laws, as well as taxation.

The leaders of the largest social protest movement in Israel’s history, however, rejected the conclusion of the Trajtenberg Committee on Tuesday and accused the government of not taking their demands seriously.

“This committee received a limited charter, a pathetic charter, and it fulfilled that charter completely. We asked for a root canal and instead got our teeth cleaned. The summer of 2011 may be over, but our protest continues,” protest leader Daphni Leef said, calling the panel’s final report a “blatant insult.”

Social protesters rallying against the Trajtenberg Committee’s findings in Jerusalem, Sept. 26, 2011.Daniel Bar-On 1/7 “What did the citizens of Israel receive? I don’t want to take the [Trajtenberg] Committee lightly, even though I could, mainly because that committee took us lightly,” Leef said.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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