TA rally against attack on Iran musters 24 protesters

Protesters outside Defense Ministry worry attack will have "consequences that Israeli leaders cannot foresee.”

By BEN HARTMAN
Iranian Flag (R)_311 (photo credit: Reuters)
Iranian Flag (R)_311
(photo credit: Reuters)
A small crowd of around two dozen gathered outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening to voice their protest of an Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear program.
Organizers of the protest, which was held under the banner “No to military attacks, yes to talks,” included members of Combatants for Peace and the Israeli Disarmament Movements.
Protesters held signs with slogans such as “No to an attack on Iran,” and two demonstrators held red paper hearts on the end of sticks.
In a statement released ahead of the protest, Israeli Disarmament Movement director Sharon Dolev said, “When the heads of Israel’s defense establishment are convinced that it is not possible to eliminate the Iranian nuclear program through military means, the only way is through dialogue.”
She also called for the two countries to hold talks to establish a weapons-of-mass-destruction- free zone in the Middle East.
One demonstrator, Haggai Ram, a professor of Middle East studies at Ben-Gurion University, said he was there as “a concerned citizen” and that he had become more concerned after seeing the very small crowd of protesters.
Worrying that “the rhetoric [against Iran] will turn into action,” he said he believed such an attack “would have consequences that Israeli leaders cannot foresee.”