Olmert survives confidence vote

JERUSALEM – Two Israeli college students have set up camp outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s home in a grassroots attempt to force him to resign after being criticised for mishandling last year’s war in Lebanon.

Though turnout for their round-the-clock vigil has been tiny, the protesters say they draw inspiration from a similarly meagre movement that grew powerful enough to force Golda Meir to resign as premier after the Middle East war of 1973. “We’re trying to start a kind of revolution by the citizens,” Itai Harary, 28, says standing by several tents where they and a sprinkling of others who occasionally show up to join them have been sleeping now for three days.Olmert has so far rejected calls to resign from within his Kadima party and from a 100 000 strong protest held last week in Tel Aviv, after an official panel issued a scathing report against his handling of a war with Hezbollah guerrillas in July.On Monday, he survived three confidence motions brought by opposition parties against his government over the report.”It’s time for the people to rise up and say you are fired,” Harary says, referring also to Defence Minister Amir Peretz who the commission also criticised.Harary and Zichri Weiner, both studying to be teachers, launched their vigil with a 70-km hike at the weekend from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where they have pitched tents on a sidewalk about 50 metres from Olmert’s residence.With the residence sealed off by police, that is the nearest they can get.They have been joined by a small group of wellwishers, from professionals to pensioners from across the political spectrum – unusual for highly politicised Israel.Most demonstrators hang around only for part of a day.More than 400 have signed a petition demanding Olmert quit.Scribbled signs, mostly in Hebrew, hang on a nearby fence.Ofir Pines-Paz, a lawmaker from Olmert’s largest coalition partner, the Labour Party, has pitched a tent to join the protest, though unlike the students, he is not always there.Labour holds a leadership primary on May 28.Pines and other key contenders such as former prime minister Ehud Barak have suggested they may bolt Olmert’s government if they win.Such a move could force Olmert to resign as well and possibly force the country to hold an early national election.Demonstrators will not say who they would rather see at the helm instead of Olmert, insisting they are not campaigning for rightist Benjamin Netanyahu, a favourite in opinion polls.The protest is symptomatic of public distaste for Olmert, both due to the war and several corruption accusations under investigation, which he has denied, Sandler said.Nampa-Reuters”We’re trying to start a kind of revolution by the citizens,” Itai Harary, 28, says standing by several tents where they and a sprinkling of others who occasionally show up to join them have been sleeping now for three days.Olmert has so far rejected calls to resign from within his Kadima party and from a 100 000 strong protest held last week in Tel Aviv, after an official panel issued a scathing report against his handling of a war with Hezbollah guerrillas in July.On Monday, he survived three confidence motions brought by opposition parties against his government over the report.”It’s time for the people to rise up and say you are fired,” Harary says, referring also to Defence Minister Amir Peretz who the commission also criticised.Harary and Zichri Weiner, both studying to be teachers, launched their vigil with a 70-km hike at the weekend from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where they have pitched tents on a sidewalk about 50 metres from Olmert’s residence.With the residence sealed off by police, that is the nearest they can get.They have been joined by a small group of wellwishers, from professionals to pensioners from across the political spectrum – unusual for highly politicised Israel.Most demonstrators hang around only for part of a day.More than 400 have signed a petition demanding Olmert quit.Scribbled signs, mostly in Hebrew, hang on a nearby fence.Ofir Pines-Paz, a lawmaker from Olmert’s largest coalition partner, the Labour Party, has pitched a tent to join the protest, though unlike the students, he is not always there.Labour holds a leadership primary on May 28.Pines and other key contenders such as former prime minister Ehud Barak have suggested they may bolt Olmert’s government if they win.Such a move could force Olmert to resign as well and possibly force the country to hold an early national election.Demonstrators will not say who they would rather see at the helm instead of Olmert, insisting they are not campaigning for rightist Benjamin Netanyahu, a favourite in opinion polls.The protest is symptomatic of public distaste for Olmert, both due to the war and several corruption accusations under investigation, which he has denied, Sandler said.Nampa-Reuters