Hundreds support protesting reservists

From Ynet news, 24/8/06, by Neta Sela ...

Reservists hold rally outside PM’s Office in Jerusalem, call on Olmert, Peretz to resign. ‘The feeling was that we as soldiers on the ground could have acted but had our hands tied behind our backs,’ protest organizer says; former Etzel member: Now is the new generation’s time – you should be a part of the next government

Hundreds of people arrived Wednesday at the protest tent set up by IDF reserve soldiers opposite the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem and signed a petition calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

Ronny Zvigenbaum, 27, one of the protest’s organizers, said “...we noticed repeated failures: ...the equipment we received was insufficient, as was the training....There was hesitancy all along; it felt as though the IDF brass was not utilizing the power they had in their hands....There was no coordination between the different corps or a defined objective.... The feeling was that we as soldiers on the ground could have acted but had our hands tied behind our backs. ....”

Yaakov Hasdai, who was a member of the Agranat Commission , which was appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the circumstances leading to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, said at the rally “I support the call for the resignation of the top political echelon and the establishment of an inquiry commission as part of the demand for a culture of accountability in the political system.”

“I came here to tell the younger generation to rise up, protest and learn the lesson of the previous protest generation and call for a wide-scale plan to rehabilitate the country.” However, Zvigenbaum and several others said they are not demanding an inquiry commission.

.... Shlomo Lev Ami, a former Etzel (The Irgun) member, said during the rally in Jerusalem ‘if we do not rise up and prepare an alternative for the rotten regime, then a new regime will be established that will be similar to the one you are toppling. “Now is the new generation’s time – you should be a part of the next government,” he said.