TEL AVIV (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced a new battle on Thursday, with tens of thousands of protestors expected to call on him to quit at the first mass street rally since a scathing Lebanon war report. Several thousand people had filled Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square by early evening to call for Olmert to resign in the wake of a government inquiry that roasted his handling of the 34-day war last summer.

"You have failed, go home," read a huge sign behind a stage from which activists and entertainers were to address the crowd."This demonstration is an occasion for people to show a red card to Ehud Olmert and (Defence Minister) Amir Peretz and tell them that they should step down," reserve General Uzi Dayan, an organiser of the protest, told army radio.The demonstration is being closely watched as it will indicate whether Israelis, which two thirds of whom polls say want Olmert to resign, are willing to take their discontent to the streets.

But an aide to Olmert warned that even if the rally attracts tens of thousands of people, as hoped by the organisers, it would not push the prime minister to leave his post less than a year after officially assuming it.

"The prime minister cannot react to polls and demonstrations," Tal Silberstein, a senior advisor, told army radio.

Olmert has admitted to grave failures in the handling of the war, but has said that resigning would be irresponsible and vowed that his government would work to correct the mistakes uncovered by the inquiry.

Earlier Thursday, Olmert survived his second major test since the publication of the report three days ago, coming unscathed through a special session of parliament called in the wake of the inquiry.

Despite several impassioned speeches calling on him to resign, the session closed with no attempt to push through a no-confidence vote. And so far, the 78-member coalition has stood by the premier in the 120-seat Knesset.

Netanyahi, leader of the right-wing opposition Likud party, which leads in opinion polls, said: "Our country needs new leadership. Those who failed at war cannot be those who correct the failures."

Olmert attended the session, but did not speak. He left Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres to defend the government.

"This government did err," Peres said. "This government was instructed by the inquiry to immediately fix what needs fixing and it is doing so … If you made a mistake it means you acted."

On Wednesday the premier doused a rebellion within Kadima despite a call to quit by top aide Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the resignation of the chief of the party’s parliamentary bloc.

Following a late-night meeting of Kadima’s 29 deputies in the Knesset, Peres emerged saying Olmert had received "unprecedented support" from the MPs after only two backed Livni’s call for Olmert to step down.

"He may be a failed prime minister, but he is a fairly good politician," wrote the tabloid Maariv.

"The prospect of a putsch within Kadima’s ranks has burst like a soap bubble, along with the fear of a ministerial mass desertion that could topple Olmert’s government," wrote the liberal Haaretz newspaper.

Israel launched the war on Hezbollah after the Shiite militia seized two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, according to government figures.

It is widely regarded as a failure in Israel because it did not achieve its two main objectives — freeing the two captured servicemen and stopping Hezbollah rocket fire.