A second Israeli man has died after setting himself alight in protest at economic difficulties.

Akiva Mafi, a 45-year-old wheelchair-bound army veteran, doused his body in petrol and lit it at a bus station on July 22.

Mr Mafi's friends say he had been involved in a dispute over welfare benefits.

The incident comes just a week after the death of another man, Moshe Silman, who set himself on fire during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on July 14.

Mr Silman, 57, left a note accusing Israel's conservative government of "taking from the poor and giving to the rich".

In response to the deaths, activists announced plans to hold a demonstration in Tel Aviv later this week "as a shout-out against economic hardship leading some to suicide."

Speaking on Israeli television, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the self-immolation as tragic but downplayed economic problems in the country.

ABC/Reuters