Original source URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060811/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisrael_060811100443 Dissent mounts in Israel over Lebanon war by Marius Schattner Fri Aug 11, 6:04 AM ET Dissent in Israel over the government's handling of war in Lebanon started to mount, as international diplomatic efforts intensified to bring the month-old bloodshed to an end. For the first time, opinion polls showed a sharp drop in support for the Israeli government over its handling of the offensive in Lebanon and mainstream parties and movements outright withdrew their support for the war. In a survey published by the Haaretz daily a month after the offensive was launched, 73 percent of respondents said Israel could not claim to have won the war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia if the fighting stopped now. Since it killed eight soldiers and captured two others in a July 12 border attack, the guerrilla group has continued to rain rockets on Israel, inflicting 120 Israeli casualties. Only 48 percent of those polled said they were satisfied with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's performance since the start of the offensive a month ago. In a front-page article Friday titled "Olmert Must Go," the independent Haaretz daily piled blame on the premier for a series of mistakes. "There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month," senior editorialist Ari Shavit said. "He went to war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome. He blindly followed the military without asking the necessary questions. "The day Nasrallah comes out of his bunker and declares victory to the whole world, Olmert must not be in the prime minister's office. Post-war battered and bleeding Israel needs a new start and a new leader. It needs a real prime minister." Shavit echoed growing criticism that Olmert, who has little military experience, was now having cold feet after ordering Israel's largest military operation in a quarter century. Right-wing lawmaker Yuval Steinitz also said that "if it accepts a ceasefire, the government will have to resign because it will have handed an unprecedented victory to Hezbollah." After a wave of international criticism over Lebanese civilian victims and heavy losses endured by ground troops venturing inside Lebanon, Olmert is now being accused by some of holding back the military and offering Israel an indecisive victory. The Maariv daily said that Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has had acrimonious exchanges with Olmert in recent days, notably during Wednesday's security cabinet meeting that gave the go-ahead to an expanded ground offensive. "Peres criticised the management of the crisis, the lack of thought, the fact that everyone blabs to the media and informs Hezbollah when there will be an operation," the newspaper said. Former foreign minister Silvan Shalom also said Israel's acceptance of UN-imposed ceasefire would be "disastrous, because Hezbollah would take advantage of the situation to re-arm." "The war would be delayed by a few years and then it won't just be the north of Israel that will be threatened by rocket fire but the whole of Israel," he said. In another sign the tide may have started to turn, mainstream movements known in Israel as "the peace camp" or the "Zionist left," which earlier supported the war, withdrew their support for the military offensive arguing that Israel must accept talks. On Thursday, hundreds of demonstrators staged a protest organised by the anti-settlement Peace Now organisation and the left-wing Meretz party in front of the defence ministry to condemn the decision to press on with the fighting. "The war has spiralled out of control and the government is ignoring the political options available," Peace Now spokesman Yariv Oppenheimer said. Anti-war demonstrations in Israel had so far been organised by movements considered in the Jewish state to be from the extreme left. In 1982, Peace Now organised a huge demonstration to condemn the role played by Israel in the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. It led to the resignation of then defence minister Ariel Sharon. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse. Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. -- -------------------------------------------------------- Escaping the Matrix website http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website http://cyberjournal.org subscribe cyberjournal list mailto:•••@••.••• Posting archives http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/ Blogs: cyberjournal forum http://cyberjournal-rkm.blogspot.com/ Achieving real democracy http://harmonization.blogspot.com/ for readers of ETM http://matrixreaders.blogspot.com/ Community Empowerment http://empowermentinitiatives.blogspot.com/ Blogger made easy http://quaylargo.com/help/ezblogger.html
