Tens of thousands of Israelis called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign late yesterday in the first mass street protest since a government inquiry blasted his leadership of last year’s Lebanon war. Organizers said about 100,000 people, left-wing activists and right-wing settlers among them, filled Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square calling for Olmert to resign in the wake of the report that accused him of serious failure during the 34-day war.“You serve the people, the people don’t serve you,” the father of a soldier killed in the conflict said from a stage in the square, a huge banner reading “Bunglers Go Home” behind him.
“Olmert quit! Olmert quit!” the festive crowd chanted in reply, waving signs and banners calling for early elections. “The people have lost their trust in the government and everyone in Israel should take to the streets in protest,” said Viktor Tal, 46, who came from the northern town of Haifa to attend the rally.
“I hope that the tens of thousands of the people who came here will at last make them understand that they must quit,” said Eliad Shraga, who heads a group advocating good governance in Israel. The demonstration was being closely watched for an indication of whether Israelis, two-thirds of whom want Olmert to resign according to polls, are willing to take their discontent to the streets.
Earlier an Olmert aide warned that a high turnout would not push the prime minister to leave his post less than a year after officially assuming it. “The prime minister cannot react to polls and demonstrations,” Tal Silberstein, a senior advisor, told army radio. Olmert has admitted to grave failures in the handling of the war, but has said that resigning would be irresponsible and vowed his government would work to correct the mistakes uncovered by the inquiry.
Earlier yesterday, Olmert survived his second major test since the publication of the report three days ago, emerging unscathed after a special session of Parliament called in the wake of the inquiry. Despite several impassioned speeches calling on him to resign, the session closed with no attempt to push through a no-confidence vote. And so far, his 78-member coalition has stood by the premier in the 120-seat Knesset.
Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing opposition Likud party which leads in opinion polls, said: “Our country needs new leadership. Those who failed at war cannot be those who correct the failures.” Olmert attended the session, but did not speak, leaving Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres to defend the government. “This government did err,” Peres said. “This government was instructed by the inquiry to immediately fix what needs fixing and it is doing so ... If you made a mistake it means you acted.”
On Wednesday the premier doused a rebellion within Kadima despite a call to quit by top aide Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the resignation of the chief of the party’s parliamentary bloc. Following a late-night meeting of Kadima’s 29 deputies in the Knesset, Peres emerged saying Olmert had received “unprecedented support” from the MPs after only two backed Livni’s call for Olmert to step down. “He may be a failed prime minister, but he is a fairly good politician,” wrote the tabloid Maariv.
“The prospect of a putsch within Kadima’s ranks has burst like a soap bubble, along with the fear of a ministerial mass desertion that could topple Olmert’s government,” wrote the liberal Haaretz newspaper. Israel launched the war on Hezbollah after the Shiite militia seized two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, according to government figures.