The head of Lebanon's Shiite militia Hizbollah called on Egyptians and Jordanians Monday to pressure their governments to expel the Israeli ambassadors in their countries.
"The Egyptian people, in all sectors, are called upon to put pressure on the government until it has broken relations with Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador" in Cairo, said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, according to local press reports.
"The Jordanian people must also assume their responsibility if they want to deliver their support to the Palestinian people," engaged in a bloody revolt against the Israeli army in east Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip, he added.
According to the fundamentalist chief, "the breaking of relations between Egypt, which has a special place in the Arab world, and Israel will have more weight than any other breaking (of relations)."
If Egypt broke its ties with Israel it would "have a greater impact than dozens of bombs dropped on the Israelis," he said.
Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel. Cairo signed its accord in 1979, followed by Amman in 1994.
The Arab summit held October 21-22 in Cairo in solidarity with the Palestinians did not call on either country to end the relations.
Nasrallah also said Qatar should close the Israeli trade office in Doha or be barred from assuming the presidency of the Organization of the Islamic Conference later this month.
Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasem el-Thani said recently that the country would study a possible closing of the Israeli office.
Oman, the only other Gulf Arab country with an Israeli trade post, announced October 12 that it was closing down the office in Muscat and its reciprocal office in Tel Aviv in light of the violence between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
The Palestinian uprising against Israel which began on September 28 has claimed the lives of more than 150 people and injured well over 4,000 others, the vast majority of them Arabs.
Morocco and Tunisia also announced this month that they would close down their interests sections in Tel Aviv and Israeli offices in Rabat and Tunis.
The only Arab country with full diplomatic relations with Israel apart from Egypt and Jordan is Mauritania – BEIRUT (AFP)
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