Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said today that after recalling his ambassador to Israel for consultations, the next step will be to sever diplomatic relations with Israel in protest of the Israel Defense Force’s actions in Lebanon.
“We recalled our ambassador and they recalled theirs. The next step for us will probably be to sever diplomatic relations because I have no desire to continue with relations, economic or otherwise, with a state like Israel,” said Chavez.
Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said, “We have no desire to worsen relations with Venezuela where we have interests and we are concerned about the connections to the Jewish community there. As far as we are concerned, nothing happened despite what he said,” officials in Jerusalem said. Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to Venezuela Shlomo Cohen, who was called back to Israel for consultations as a counter move to Chavez, arrived in Israel yesterday.