Tens of thousands of people have staged a rally in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for the resignation of the country's prime minister, Ehud Olmert.
The pressure is back on Mr Olmert after he had survived a special parliament debate to discuss his future, three days after an official inquiry criticised his handling of last year’s war in Lebanon.
The prime minister had earlier secured the backing of parliament, and appeared to have fended off a call for him to quit from his own foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.
As night fell, demonstrators crowded Tel Aviv's Yitzhak Rabin Square calling for Mr Olmert to go.
Television channels said as many as 150,000 demonstrators were present as parents of soldiers killed in the conflict and prominent local authors, among others, spoke to the crowd.
Many senior military and political figures were criticised for 'serious failures' during last year's 34-day war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The report accused Mr Olmert of 'making up his mind hastily' in his decision to launch the campaign last July.
The government-appointed panel also highlighted his failures in 'exercising judgement, responsibility and prudence'.
Polls published in yesterday's three main Israeli newspapers showed that up to 73% of the Israeli public wanted the prime minister to resign.
