You don't suppose people are starting to believe wars are bad, do you?
Gaza Pullout Rally Draws 100,000 in Israel
Sat May 15, 2004 04:01 PM ET
By Gwen Ackerman
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Mounting the Israeli peace camp's biggest protest in years, more than 100,000 people rallied Saturday demanding a Gaza pullout after Palestinian militants dealt Israel's army its deadliest blow since 2002.
Crowds packing Tel Aviv's main square added to a growing public clamor for withdrawal from the war-torn territory, which Israelis increasingly see as a quagmire like Lebanon before troops moved out in 2000 amid mounting casualties.
The killing of 13 soldiers by militants in the Gaza Strip this week has deepened already strong support in Israel for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan, stalled by hard-liners in his right-wing Likud party.
The rally evoked memories of fierce public protest that led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation that cost the lives of hundreds of troops in fighting against Hizbollah guerrillas.
Israel's top brass are concerned that Palestinian militants may have adopted Hizbollah tactics in their latest ambushes in Gaza, where 7,500 Jews live in hard-to-defend settlements amid 1.3 million mostly impoverished Palestinians.
The rally, mounted by a peace camp that has been largely dormant since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, began hours after Israeli helicopters hit Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza in apparent retaliation for the soldiers' deaths.
