As the OP stated, not many that have posted in this thread own or shot both rifles so MOST opinions stated are based on online reviews and videos (trigger, perceived build quality, handling). There's nothing wrong in speculating and basing your purchasing decision based on others' experience, but I personally feel that if possible, own and operate the rifles you want by buying them on the EE, keep the one you like, and sell the other at little or no loss. I have bought many guns over the years that I thought I would hate/love but ended up with the opposite opinion on them after actually owning them.
I don't think the Tavor is worth $3k brand new after taxes ($2k is good, like the US) but that is the going rate now for a non restricted military style black rifle in Canada. With the T97 making such a big wave though, it may drive the prices of other rifles down so that the price difference wouldn't be so substantial. I think in the end, the T97, like Norc's AR and M14s, will bring more people into the Black rifle market and that is never a bad thing.
People that want to buy the Tavor will buy them (like those that buy high end ARs), so it's not about Tavor owners being "threatened" that our expensive rifles are being challenged, but a lot of facts need to be stated because there are too many BS "opinions" from people that have not shot either. The T97's biggest selling point is its price, but a Tavor it is not. Will they perform the same on the battlefield? I think so, as long as the operators have trained extensively with them and I doubt at any point during combat they'd be thinking about how the rifle looks or how good the polymer feels. For us regularly joes and target shooters though, those latter points have more merits since we are never going to use these "in battle", and a good amount of time is spent handling and admiring them, so to some people those things matter greatly in their buying decision.
Bottom line, both have pros and cons, and you buy which ever has more pros that you feel justifiable in spending the money on. I personally liked the T97 (even pre-ordered one) and if not for a nice deal I came across on the EE for a Tavor, I'd have the T97 in my safe right now. For what it's worth, I still think the T97 is butt ugly, even more so than the Tavor

but I also recognize that there ARE noticeable differences in the overall quality and feel of these two rifles, and my nod goes to the Tavor.