Olmert defiant after calls for resignation

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert remained defiant today, hoping to beat a rising wave of calls to step down after a report criticising his handling of last year’s war with Lebanon.

His spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, today reiterated his position that “the best way to contend with the situation … is to have a stable government, not a transition period, and to immediately … fix the mistakes and face the challenges”.

Yesterday’s protest crowd in Tel Aviv was made up of a cross-section of Israelis – moderates and hard-liners, secular and religious, young and old, a rare mix symbolising the widespread dissatisfaction with Olmert.

It remained to be seen whether the outpouring of anger would be enough to oust the prime minister.

“Failures, Go Home!” read the banner behind the podium, referring to Mr Olmert and his defence minister, Amir Peretz. Organisers decided not to allow politicians to address the crowd, to give the gathering a grass-roots nature, said Uzi Dayan, a retired general and a main speaker.

Also addressing the gathering was Moshe Muskal, 50, from the central Israeli town of Mazkeret Batya. His son, Rafnael, was killed during the war. “I am glad that the public is not passive or despairing,” he said. He said the soldiers “fulfilled their mission fully. Our mission is to make our country a little bit better”.

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”.

The protesters came from all over Israel, including 35 who walked about 45 miles to Tel Aviv from the southern town of Sderot, a frequent target of rockets from Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Ariela Kaszovitz, who moved to Israel 17 years ago from New York, demonstrated with her husband and four children. She said Mr Olmert made too many mistakes. “Let someone else run the government,” she said.

Past protests in the Tel Aviv square have started political earthquakes. A demonstration there after Israel’s disastrous 1973 war led to the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir and Defence Minister Moshe Dayan.

In 1982, hundreds of thousands marched to the square to protest against Israel’s involvement in the massacre of Palestinian refugees in Beirut by a Christian militia, a step toward the resignation of then-Defence Minister Ariel Sharon and the eventual retirement of Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

This week’s report covered only the first six days of the war and the six years that led up to it. The full report is expected in the summer – another benchmark in Olmert’s political survival campaign.

Even optimists doubt Olmert would be able to stay in power if the final Lebanon report is as harsh as the first one.