Last update - 00:00 30/01/2008
Reservists to camp outside Barak's home to 'help him decide' to resign
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
Reservists who hope to use the Winograd Report as a lever to dislodge Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from office plan to set up a protest tent this evening opposite Labor Party Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak's house in Tel Aviv.
The main activity at the protest tent, starting at 6 P.M., will be a reading of the full text of the report, which will be broadcast over loudspeakers.
"We want to help him [Barak]," said Yakir Segev, one of the protest leaders, with mock innocence.
"He said that he'll make his decision on whether to remain in the government or quit it only after he reads the whole report. We'll stand in front of his house and take turns reading it."
Segev said that Barak's decision will determine the focus of the struggle thereafter: If he decides to keep Labor in the government, or delays making a decision, the protest tent will become a permanent fixture.
The reservists are also considering a mass protest rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Saturday night, or alternatively, a mass rally opposite the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday.
The reservists' protest forum also announced Tuesday that it had received yet another letter from some 50 company commanders in the reserves, in which they urged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign.
About 10 days ago, a different group of 50 company commanders sent a letter directly to Olmert demanding his resignation.
That letter generated a public storm over the reservists' use of their army ranks for political activity.