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Protesters stream to Tel Aviv
square to demand Israeli premier quit over Lebanon war failures
DANIEL ROBINSON
AP
Thursday May 03, 2007
TEL AVIV, Israel — Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied
in a Tel Aviv square after sundown Thursday, demanding Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert resign because of a government inquiry's scathing criticism
of his handling of the inconclusive war in Lebanon.
Olmert remained defiant, hoping to beat back a wave of calls for
him to step down. A day after his popular foreign minister joined
the chorus, Olmert's aides argued it was not a mortal political
blow, but conceded a large-scale public protest campaign could bring
him down.
Turnout on the square in front of Tel Aviv's City Hall appeared
to top 100,000, but police refused to estimate the crowd's size.
The rally drew a cross-section of Israelis _ moderates and hard-liners,
secular and religious, young and old, a rare mix symbolizing the
widespread dissatisfaction with Olmert.
On a warm, muggy night, the crowd was well-behaved, and hundreds
of police stationed around the square had nothing to do. Demonstrators
carried signs reading "Elections now" and "Olmert,
go home." A small group held aloft a mock black coffin labeled,
"Government, RIP."
"Failures, Go Home!" read a banner erected behind the
podium, referring to Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a
lesser target of the war inquiry's criticism. Parents of soldiers
killed in last summer's conflict spoke to the crowd from the podium.
Organizers decided not to let politicians speak at the rally, said
retired Gen. Uzi Dayan. "There are no politicians here, but
this is a political event," he said.
Moshe Muskal, 50, whose son Rafnael was killed in the war, was
among parents who addressed the gathering. "I am glad that
the public is not passive or despairing," he told The Associated
Press afterward. He said the soldiers "fulfilled their mission
fully. Our mission is to make our country a little bit better."
The protesters came from all over Israel, including 35 who walked
45 miles from the southern town of Sderot, a frequent target of
rockets fired by Palestinians in Gaza.
Edan Mehallel, 16, of the port city of Haifa, said he lived through
the Hezbollah rocket attacks during the war and came to make a difference.
"The more people there are, the more influence the demonstration
will have," he said.
Ariela Kaszovitz, who moved to Israel 17 years ago from New York,
demonstrated with her husband and four children. She said Olmert
made too many mistakes. "Let someone else run the government,"
she said.
Some previous political demonstrations in Israel have attracted
hundreds of thousands of protesters, and the size of this one was
seen as a critical sign of the extent of public anger.
Past protests in the Tel Aviv square have started political earthquakes.
A demonstration after Israel's hard-fought 1973 war to turn back
invasions by Egypt and Syria led to the resignations of Prime Minister
Golda Meir and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
Israel went to war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon on July
12 after guerrillas crossed into Israel, killing three soldiers
and capturing two.
For many Israelis, the 34-day war was a failure because it didn't
achieve the two main goals Olmert set _ returning the soldiers and
crushing Hezbollah, which fired nearly 4,000 rockets at northern
Israel. The conflict killed 158 Israelis and more than 1,000 Lebanese.
A commission appointed by Olmert to investigate the war accused
the premier of "hasty" decision-making, failing to consult
others and neglecting to assess the chances that his goals could
be accomplished.
The report covered the first six days of the war and the six years
that led up to it. A report on the full war is expected this summer.
Leaders of the ruling Kadima Party rallied around their beleaguered
chief Thursday, mindful that a mutiny could lead to elections that
opinion polls indicate would be won by hawkish former Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
Under Israel's parliamentary system, Kadima could switch its leader
without losing power. The prime minister is not directly elected
and usually comes from parliament's largest bloc.
Israel's parliament held a special session on the war report, where
Netanyahu appealed for new elections.
"We must redress the primary flaw the report identifies _
the lack of a seasoned leadership, the lack of responsibility, the
inability to make tough decisions and carry them out," he told
a sparsely attended session.
Olmert was present in the chamber, but did not speak.
Even if Olmert weathers the current crisis, two upcoming events
are expected to pose even greater challenges: a party primary and
the final report on the Lebanon war.
Olmert's main coalition partner, Labor, is scheduled to hold a
May 28 primary for party leader that is expected to oust Peretz.
A new Labor leader might well decide to bolt the coalition, which
almost certainly would be a fatal blow to Olmert's government.
Even Kadima optimists doubted Olmert could stay in power if the
final Lebanon report was as harsh as the first.
Also auguring poorly for Olmert's political survival is the history
of protests at the plaza where protesters massed Thursday night.
In 1982, hundreds of thousands marched to the square to protest
Israel's involvement in the massacre of Palestinian refugees in
Beirut by a Christian militia, a step toward the resignation of
then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and the eventual retirement of
Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
And in 1995, after a peace rally, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
was assassinated in the square by an Israeli opponent of his policy
of compromise for peace with the Palestinians. The square was renamed
for the fallen leader.
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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