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Israeli Reservists Fault Leadership on Lebanon

A growing number of Israeli reserve soldiers, frustrated at the way the war with Hezbollah was managed, are calling for senior political and military officials to resign. Some soldiers have launched a petition drive; others are protesting outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office.

Many soldiers say they lacked vital equipment and were misled by dithering leaders. Hundreds of reservists this week signed and published a petition in a local paper leveling those criticisms.

Israeli politicians ignore outspoken reserve soldiers at their own peril: In the 1973 Mideast War, Syrian and Egyptian forces initially stunned Israeli troops in a surprise attack on the holy day of Yom Kippur.

Momentum eventually swung Israel's way. But after the war angry reservists, voicing many of the same criticisms heard today, led protests that helped force then-Prime Minister Golda Meir to resign.

It appears the reservists' protests are already having an impact. Several members of the Israeli parliament now back a state probe much broader than the military review panel appointed by the defense minister.

But Prime Minister Olmert has downplayed the criticism. Touring a northern city hit hard by Hezbollah rockets, he pledged broad rebuilding efforts. Of the protests, he said, "I won't be part of this game of self flagellation." He continued, "We don't have a lot of time to talk about what happened; we have to talk about what will happen."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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