IDF reservists who live in the western Negev demanded Sunday that the government appoint a special minister to oversee events in the area. They also want the government to declare their rocket-pocked region a national project.

The reservists, who met with Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan on Sunday, said in a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week that they do not want to serve to protect other Israelis when their own families are left defenseless against Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza.