The Jewish community in Venezuela expressed Friday "deep grief for the killing of innocent civilians" in Lebanon and rebutted an "anti-Semite campaign" presumably launched on the government media.

The Confederation of Venezuela's Israeli Associations (CAIV) expressed also "dismay for the arbitrary bias of government agencies towards one of the struggling parties," in a press release published Friday in major newspapers, Efe reported.

The Jewish community spoke up one day after the decision made by President Hugo Chávez to recall the diplomatic representative in Israel due to the "genocide" against the Lebanese people under the aegis of the United States.

CAIV denounced and refused the "attempts at transferring the conflict in the Middle East to Venezuela, as well, as anti-Semite expressions disguised as anti-Zionist, on government and pro-government media that encourage hatred and discrimination."