VZCZCXRO5832
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #1328 1241400
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041400Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0941
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001328 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB IS LE
SUBJECT:  DEMONSTRATORS CALL ON LEADERS TO RESIGN 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The May 3 Tel Aviv demonstration gathered more 
than 100,000 people, but its diverse assortment of students, 
reservists and settlers will not compel political action such as 
early elections.   Some analysts speculated, however, that the 
demonstration may strengthen the hand of those in the Labor Party 
who are calling for Labor to leave the coalition even before the 
Labor leadership primaries.  The demonstration calling for the Prime 
Minister and Defense Minister "to go home" that took place in Rabin 
Square will not force Olmert's government to resign in the 
short-run, but there remains a deep bitterness in the Israeli body 
politic towards its current political leadership that is unlikely to 
dissipate quickly.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Uzi Dayan, leader of the "Tafnit" party that failed to pass 
the two-percent threshold in the 2006 elections, led off the May 3 
speeches by "non-politicians."  Reserve soldiers, families of 
missing and dead soldiers, a Movement for Quality in Government 
spokesman, and civil society representatives from Sderot all quoted 
from the harsh language of the Winograd Committee's critique of the 
government's handling of the Second Lebanon War, calling it an 
indictment of the Olmert/Peretz government.   A variety of 
opposition parties from across the political spectrum -- Meretz, 
Likud and the National Union/National Religious Party -- reportedly 
encouraged their followers to participate in the demonstration. 
 
¶3.  (U) The demonstration included loud refrains of "Go home 
(Olmert/Peretz)," but many of the people in the crowd were in a 
somber, reflective mood rather than a rabble-rousing mode.   Some 
called for elections; others warned of the danger of elections 
bringing Opposition leader "Bibi" Netanyahu to power. When 
red-shirted students joined the demonstration later in the evening, 
they combined their critique of Olmert's failure in the Lebanon War 
with his refusal to meet student demands for tuition reductions. 
 
¶4.  (U) Bumper stickers distributed at the rally called for 
President Katsav's castration (as punishment for his rape charges), 
and death to the Finance Minister (for allegedly stealing from 
Holocaust survivors).   Followers of Moshe Feiglin, a far right-wing 
activist and founder of the "this is our land" extremist movement, 
attempted to raise a banner proclaiming Feiglin to be the leader 
Israelis are seeking, but others in the crowd forced them to wrap up 
their banners.  In general, the crowd was mostly young, with a good 
many (albeit no majority) religious Zionists from settler 
communities sprinkled throughout.   The respected journalist Nahum 
Barnea commented in Yediot Aharonot this morning that the crowd 
appeared to represent mostly the veteran Ashkenazi sector of Israeli 
society, with few Russian immigrants or Sephardim from development 
towns visible, but also an unusual mix of secular Tel Avivans and 
religious Zionists.  A policeman at the rally estimated the crowd at 
120,000. 
 
------------------------------- 
Labor Rebels May Test Coalition 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Labor MK Ofir Pines Paz, who resigned from Olmert's 
government last October when it welcomed the right-wing Yisrael 
Beiteinu into the coalition, has announced his intention to camp out 
in a tent in front of Olmert's office until Olmert resigns.  He will 
join an IDF veteran, Motti Ashkenazi, who led the post-Yom Kippur 
War demonstration in 1973 against then-PM Golda Meir and her defense 
minister, Moshe Dayan.  Pines Paz currently trails MK Ami Ayalon and 
former PM Ehud Barak in the Labor Party leadership race that will 
culminate in May 28 primary elections, but may have jumped ahead of 
current Labor Party Chairman and Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, 
according to press reports. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Political Calendar: No Confidence Votes on May 7 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) To date, only Labor Secretary-General Eitan Cabel has 
resigned from the government, but a cohort of as many as 10 Labor 
MK's may not join in the coalition effort on May 7 to defeat four no 
confidence motions on the docket.  Even so, Olmert's 78-member 
coalition (out of 120) should be able to survive that challenge 
comfortably.  Cabel has announced that he will convene the party's 
central committee on May 13 to vote on quitting the government. 
 
JONES