抖阴ap

Tel Aviv – Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in a Tel Aviv square after sundown Thursday, demanding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resign because of a government inquiry’s scathing criticism of his handling of last summer’s inconclusive war in Lebanon.

Olmert remained defiant, hoping to beat back a wave of calls for him to step down.

A day after his popular foreign minister joined the chorus, Olmert’s aides argued it was not a mortal political blow but conceded a large-scale public protest campaign could bring him down.

Turnout on the square in front of Tel Aviv’s City Hall appeared to top 100,000, but police refused to estimate the crowd’s size.

The rally drew a cross section of Israelis – moderates and hard-liners, secular and religious, young and old, a rare mix symbolizing the widespread dissatisfaction with Olmert.

On a warm, muggy night, the crowd was well behaved, and hundreds of police stationed around the square had nothing to do.

Demonstrators carried signs reading “Elections now” and “Olmert, go home.”

A small group held aloft a mock black coffin labeled, “Government, RIP.”

“Failures, Go Home!” read a banner erected behind the podium, referring to Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a lesser target of the war inquiry’s criticism. Parents of soldiers killed in the conflict spoke to the crowd from the podium.

Organizers decided not to let politicians speak at the rally, said retired Gen. Uzi Dayan.

Moshe Muskal, 50, whose son Rafnael was killed in the war, was among parents who addressed the gathering.

“I am glad that the public is not passive or despairing,” he said afterward. He said the soldiers “fulfilled their mission fully. Our mission is to make our country a little bit better.”