Israel's Ambassador to Venezuela, Shlomo Cohen, left the country on Friday prior to the Sabbath, the deadline ordered by President Hugo Chavez, but his Venzuelan counterpart is still here in Israel.
On Wednesday Cohen was given 72 hours to leave the country, together with his entire staff.
Although the Foreign Ministry had said it would decide last week whether to reciprocate and expel Venezuelan diplomats from Israel in response to the move, by Sunday nothing had been done.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi told Israel National News that no decision had yet been reached on whether to expel Cohen's counterpart in Israel. "They don't have an ambassador here," he explained, "they have a Second Secretary, and there has been no decision on what action to take, if any." Levi said he didn't know when a decision would be reached.
It was also not clear exactly whether Cohen had returned to Israel, or was waiting abroad to see if the situation would be diplomatically smoothed out.
The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador was a slap at Israel by Chavez to protest the Jewish State's counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Chavez is a strong ally of Iran.
Cohen's departure leaves Israelis and relatives of Israelis in Venezuela without an address for passports and other official issues. "We are harboring the hope that this will be resolved quickly and relations will improve," Cohen told a reporter for the Associated Press before boarding a flight to Germany on Friday.
Chavez: Sends Support to Anti-War Protestors in Israel
Chavez also sent a message of support that was read to thousands of protestors who flooded the streets of Nazareth Illit Saturday in a demonstration led by the extreme leftist Hadash party.
"We are not united by one nationality -- rather, what unites us is... the blood shed in Gaza ... the blood of humanity. Venezuela kisses each and every one of you and stresses that it supports the Palestinian people and all those who suffer from the occupation," Chavez said in his message.
Arab Knesset Member Mohammed Barakeh also had a message for protestors, but he addressed the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) counter-demonstrators gathered outside the convention hall where the Hadash protest was held.
"Remember... on whose land you're standing," he said to them. "We have childhood memories here, the history of our forefathers, and a future. Those who have no memories from here have no right to talk to us. We insist on staying on this land -- either on it, or buried in it."