Hundreds of Israeli army reservists marched in Jerusalem today calling
for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert due to what
they see as mis-handling of the war in Lebanon. The march comes in the
midst of a slew of allegations of misconduct by Israeli officials.
A poll released today in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahranoth shows that a majority of Israelis support the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Jonathan Cook, a political analyst in Israel, said in an interview with the IMEMC, “We are seeing less and less support for the government – Ehud Olmert has lost his support, Amir Peretz the Defense minister, has even lower approval ratings – there is a lot of unhappiness about this war, but criticism is of politicians, not the military itself.”
Many Israelis view the ceasefire backed by Olmert as a failure for Israel because Hezballah’s leadership remains intact and the two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the war remain in captivity.
At the same time, a number of other top Israeli officials are being investigated and charged in various unrelated criminal cases – three have resigned this week alone, including the Minister of Justice.
The current Israeli leadership is not only facing internal criticism following the war with Lebanon, but also may be charged with war crimes in the international arena, after United Nations and Amnesty International reports documented a number of alleged war crimes carried out by Israeli forces in the 34-day war with Lebanon. And the U.S. State Department is investigating possible violations in the terms of a 1970 treaty with Israel authorizing Israel’s use of U.S. supplied cluster bombs, due to reports that three types of American cluster munitions were found to have caused civilian casualties in Lebanon.
