The Associated Press

Wed, Jan 7, 2009 (6:39 p.m.)

President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday criticized the U.S. government for not stopping Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and expressed hope the conflict will ease under the incoming administration.

Chavez, who a day earlier expelled the Israeli ambassador to protest the Gaza offensive, said Venezuela hopes the situation will change once President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

"We are going to wait until Mr. Obama arrives, to see if he uses all the empire's power to stop the aggression," he said, using the term he often employs to describe the U.S.

Israel launched air and ground strikes on Gaza on Dec. 27 to stop the Palestinian militant group Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israel.

After Venezuela announced it was kicking out Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen and part of the embassy's personnel, Israel said it was considering expelling Venezuela's diplomats in response.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Cohen was informed in writing that he and his diplomatic staff must leave Venezuela within 72 hours. He said the letter did not refer to any severing of diplomatic relations.

David Scott Palmer, a Boston University international relations professor, said Chavez sees the action as having little or no downside.

It serves to show Chavez's "solidarity with the Palestinians, with the Muslim world, and with most of his fellow members of OPEC," Palmer said. "The decision is unlikely to ruffle the feathers of the U.S. any more than usual."

The long-tense relations between Venezuela and the U.S. reached a low in September, when Chavez withdrew his ambassador from Washington and expelled the U.S. envoy in a show of support for Bolivia, which had accused the U.S. of meddling in domestic affairs. U.S. officials denied the allegations.

The socialist leader has since expressed hope relations will improve under Obama, but said Wednesday the new U.S. president will have to confront the situation in Gaza.

"This is Obama's first test _ along with the war in Iraq, and respect for the people of Latin America," he said.

"We're not very optimistic," he added.

Daniel Hellinger, a political scientist at Webster University in St. Louis, said Chavez's move "will only add another obstacle to restoring normal relations between the U.S. and Venezuela."

But he added it is "not insurmountable."