The Israeli government approved a two-year austerity budget early Tuesday that would cut spending and raise taxes, outraging many Israelis who voted in a new government this year after promises of economic relief. www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/world/middleeast/after-citizen-protests-israel-approves-austerity-budget.html?ref=world 12,000 Israelis took to the streets Saturday night in a show of anger reminiscent of the vast social protests that rocked the nation in the summer of 2011. At that time, record crowds complained of the high cost of living — and eventually many voted their cause and expected the new leadership to respond. Voters had demanded a different budget blueprint, anger was focused on Yair Lapid, the political rookie and former television host, who was recently elected and is now finance minister. Mr. Lapid rode the wave of the social protest movement, campaigning on a slogan of “Where’s the money?” and championing the cause of Israel’s struggling middle classes. The cuts hitting the public in the pocket appear to contradict the goals of the social protest movement, which began with a tent encampment in Tel Aviv to protest housing prices and peaked one night in September 2011 when half a million Israelis demonstrated against the high cost of living.