Olmert unmoved by protests

Under a banner reading “Failures, Go Home,” tens of thousands of Israelis from across the political spectrum joined Thursday night in demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense minister for their performance during last summer’s war in Lebanon.

But the Israeli leader remained resolute, telling aides that the size and diversity of the crowd would not dissuade him from staying in office.

Police said more than 100,000 demonstrators filled Rabin Square in front of City Hall and spilled into surrounding streets. A grass-roots coalition of army reservists, students and relatives of slain soldiers that organized the protest estimated turnout at between 150,000 and 200,000. It was the largest rally against Olmert’s government in the 13 months it has been in office.

“Ehud Olmert, you said you work for us,” renowned fiction writer Meir Shalev said, addressing the protesters, who jeered every mention of the prime minister’s name. “Olmert, you are fired!”

The protest was called after an official inquiry panel released a report Monday that concluded Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz had rushed into war without a detailed plan or realistic goals. In 34 days of fighting, the Israeli army failed to free two soldiers, crush the Hezbollah militia or stop it from firing rockets into Israel.

Although the panel did not call for resignations, its censure triggered an outcry among Israelis, who view the war as a defeat. By a margin of 2 to 1 in most polls this week, they said they wanted Olmert and Peretz to resign.

On Thursday, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the rightist opposition leader, joined in calling for their ouster.

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Of all stripes

Protesters from all over Israel converged in Tel Aviv on a warm, muggy evening. They included secular and religious Jews, hawks and peaceniks, old and young, settlers in yarmulkes or long skirts, and university students -- a rare mix reflecting the breadth of disaffection with the country’s leaders.

“It’s wonderful to be here,” said Debbie Stein, 47, a psychologist. “It’s the first time I can remember that people from the whole political spectrum want one government out.” She joined the crowd in singing an anthem titled “We Deserve Better” that was written for the occasion.

Protesters held aloft signs reading “Elections Now” and “Left and Right Agree: Olmert Go Home.” One group carried a mock coffin labeled “Government, RIP.” Organizers called for a moment of silence for the 158 Israelis killed in the war, which also caused more than 1,000 deaths in Lebanon.

“Look at this square, Mr. Prime Minister, it says it all,” said Ronny Zvigenbaum, speaking on behalf of army reservists. “We are ordinary citizens.”

The rally capped a week of political ferment that threatened to topple Olmert from within his centrist Kadima party. In a showdown Wednesday night, Kadima dissidents failed to muster a majority of the party’s parliamentary caucus against him.

It appeared that Olmert would survive the protest as well. One of his advisors, Tal Zilberstein, told Israel Radio that the rally served mainly to allow people to vent their frustration over the war.

“It doesn’t mean that Olmert will now think [that] he has to vacate his position,” Zilberstein said.

Peretz, the Labor Party leader, also has resisted calls to resign but would lose his Cabinet job if he is defeated late this month, as expected, in a party leadership primary.

Uzi Dayan, a retired general and chief organizer of Thursday’s protest, said another rally would be held in about two weeks, after the inquiry panel releases closed-door testimony by Olmert and Peretz.

To maintain the movement’s broad appeal, organizers excluded politicians from the speakers’ roster. But parties on the left and right mobilized supporters to attend.

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Joint commentary

Two lawmakers, Yossi Beilin of the leftist Meretz Party and Effi Eitam of the right-wing National Religious Party-National Unity, wrote a joint commentary in Thursday’s edition of the Maariv newspaper. They rejected Olmert’s argument that he should stay in office to remedy the flaws in crisis management highlighted by the war.

“One cannot accept the evil impulse that so many times whispers in the ear of politicians in distress, that they and only they can rescue their country from a severe crisis that they have created,” they wrote.

Roey Tzovel, a 24-year-old mathematics student who sought refuge in bomb shelters last summer to avoid Hezbollah rockets falling near Haifa, said he attended Thursday’s rally to make a similar point: “I realized that if I couldn’t count on Olmert during the last war, how can I count on him if another one breaks out?”

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boudreaux@latimes.com

Special correspondent Bekker reported from Tel Aviv and Times staff writer Boudreaux from Jerusalem.