Bahrain on Tuesday called on Arab countries to first freeze and then break off relations with Israel in protest of the "aggressions" against Palestinians.
Defense Minister Generam Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa urged the Arabs "to freeze and at a later stage to break off these relations in response to the terrorist acts, aggressions and crimes perpetrated by the Zionist enemy against the Palestinian people."
In a statement carried by the official BNA news agency the minister appealed to UN Security Council members "to stand strongly and clearly on the side of justice and international legitimacy and not to allow Israel to set itself above international law", AFP reported.
In addition, Sheikh Khalifa called on council members "to shoulder their responsibilities and use their influence to force Israeli to implement all UN resolutions, notably resolution 1402," which calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Only Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania among Arab states have diplomatic relations with Israel.
King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain on Monday called on Washington to "intervene urgently", and end the Israeli military offensive thereby avoiding any threat to US interests. (Albawaba.com)
