The protestors marched from central Rabin Square, where Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist on November 4, 1995 for his peacemaking efforts, to the defence ministry building.

According to the pacifist group which organized the march, Peace Now, the protestors numbered more than 10,000.

Many carried placards demanding the army withdraw from the territories to "save" Israel, while others were draped in Israeli flags, an AFP correspondent said.

They also chanted slogans against the "liquidations" of wanted Palestinian militants by Israeli forces, as well as against bloody anti-Israeli Palestinian attacks.

"It's the first time in several months that Peace Now has organized a demonstration of this size," the group's spokesman, Yariv Oppenheimer, told

He said the movement wanted to show that it was defending Israel's best interests in pursuing peace and ending the decades-long occupations of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which has resulted in the current Palestinian uprising.

WAR.WIRE