Peace Now drops its support for war

Peace Now, the organisation formed in protest at the last Lebanon war, has abandoned its support for the present military campaign and called for a "political solution" to end the conflict.

In one of the first signs of dissent against the war among the mainstream left, Peace Now called a demonstration outside the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv against a war which its previously supportive director, Yariv Oppenheimer, said had "now spiralled out of control". The move is significant, because Peace Now, which has long called for a peaceful solution to the 39-year occupation of Palestinian territories, had been staunchly supported by Amir Peretz, the Defence Minister and promoter of the cabinet-approved plan for an expanded invasion.

Mr Oppenheimer said: "The government is ignoring the political options available. Now is the time for the Israeli government to react positively to [Lebanese] Prime Minister [Fuad] Siniora's plan to send Lebanese troops to the border with Israel."

One TV poll in Israel showed 64 per cent of Israelis in favour of the expanded military campaign.