Elifaz, at the Rose Garden opposite the Knesset in Jerusalem, began the strike three days ago. He says he plans to continue until Prime Minister Ehud Olmert quits his job.
"It's been seven months since the failed war," Baloha told Arutz-7's Uzi Baruch, "and the Prime Minister and Defense Minister [Peretz] are still in their positions. It is too much already. The Prime Minister is not even willing to meet with the Forum of Bereaved Families; he is hermetically closed off to our pain."
The war was set off when Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon kidnapped two Israeli soldiers - Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser - who were patrolling the border. Baloha said that contrary to Olmert's claims, "I see no developments towards returning the captive soldiers, nor even receiving information about them, nor the weakening of Hizbullah."
First-Sgt. Nadav Baloha, 21, of Carmiel, of the Egoz unit of the Golani Brigade, was killed in southern Lebanon, near Avivim, on July 30, 2006 - the 10th day of combat. Four others in his unit were also killed in that battle, after which IDF forces were able to capture the hostile village of Marun a-Ras.
A specific reason for demanding Olmert's resignation, the fallen soldier's father feels, is the fact that the Prime Minister is under police investigation in more than one area: "A government whose ministers and Prime Minister are busy with either political survival or with police questionings, and who spend their energies with lawyers and the like, is unable to make the hard, necessary decisions. The nation doesn't believe in them - and if he thinks differently, let him call new elections."
The Winograd Commission, headed by retired justice Eliyahu Winograd, is supposed to publicize, in the coming days, its findings about the way Olmert and Peretz ran the war. Hints from the commission itself imply that calls for their resignations will intensify significantly upon the publication.
Olmert said recently, after the publication of a poll showing that he enjoyed just 3% support among the public, that he knows "I am not popular... but I have a job to do."
"The struggle cannot be just of bereaved parents," Baloha said, "nor should it be. It's a struggle for the character and image of the State of Israel. The citizens of this country will help it succeed... The purpose is not to starve; we don't need any more victims. The purpose is for the Prime Minister to understand that the nation is no longer with him."