Some 200 reservists called on the prime minister, the defense minister and the army chief to resign during a rally held in Jerusalem Monday evening. The protesters explained that the three must step down due to the failures of the second Lebanon war. They added that a commission of inquiry was not a sufficient answer.
The demonstrators, who marched in the direction of the Prime Minister's Office, were blocked by the Office's security guards and forced to hold the rally nearby instead. The reservists spoke of shortage in supplies and food during wartime. They also complained that the orders they were given during the fighting changed by the hour.
'Leaders' lack of decisiveness' (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Assaf Davidoff, one of the rally's organizers, who serves in the Alexandroni Brigade, spoke of his reserve duty in Lebanon: "The entire preparation for the war was horrendous. We could see it from day one. The whole conduct of the war reserves store unit was terrible. We could see we lack basic fighting equipment, meant to protect our lives. There were also serious logistical problems that affected our fighting abilities. All of this took place against the backdrop of the uncertainty that characterized this war and the leaders' lack of decisiveness."
Davidoff has no doubt who the people responsible for these failures are. "You don’t need to be very clever to realize that the people guilty of all this are Olmert, Peretz and Dan Halutz. Their fingerprints are all over these failures, and this is why we demand their immediate resignation."
"Theses people are behind the problems, and this is why they cannot fix them. I don’t trust their ability to rehabilitate the army in the short run. Therefore we should not wait for a commission of inquiry. Decency demands that they initiate this step themselves," he stated.
According to Davidoff, despite what they have been through, the protesters will report for reserve duty again if they are called up. "We will report for any call up in the future, but we are concerned for ourselves and for the people of Israel who will come forward in the next war. We want then to have the proper gear and the proper leaders," he concluded.
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