A Tunisian legislator ripped up an Israeli flag during a parliamentary session to push his demands for a law criminalizing relations with Israel.
The left-wing opposition coalition has proposed a bill making it a crime to "normalize" relations with Israel, but the debate has been indefinitely delayed because parliament officials did not see it as a priority. Tunisia's president has played down the proposed law.
In images shown on national television, opposition lawmaker Ammar Amroussia tore up the flag Tuesday to protest the delay.
Moderate Islamist party Ennahdha, part of the governing coalition, warned that such a law could hurt Tunisia's relations with Western nations and international organizations.
Tunisia, like most Arab countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Tunisia was long seen as a model of tolerance in the region but has faced growing Islamic extremism.
