Bolivia breaks Israel ties, claims Gaza 'genocide'

President Evo Morales announced Wednesday he was breaking relations with Israel over its invasion of the Gaza Strip which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead. He said he will ask the International Criminal Court to bring genocide charges against top Israeli officials. Morales's move follows the decision by his ally Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, to expel Israel's ambassador in the country because of the offensive, calling it a "holocaust". Morales told the country's diplomatic corps that the Israeli attack "seriously threatened world peace" and he called for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Cabinet to face criminal charges. "Considering these grave attacks against ... humanity, Bolivia will stop having diplomatic relations with Israel," Morales told diplomats in the Bolivian capital, La Paz. Morales chided the United Nations' "Insecurity Council" for its "lukewarm" response to the crisis and said the U.N. General Assembly should condemn the invasion. He also said Israeli President Shimon Peres should be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize for failing to stop the invasion.