Gaza War: Complaint laid against NZ priest,

A formal complaint has been laid over a Catholic priest who smeared blood and paint on an Israeli monument during a protest in Wellington

About 1000 people marched through central Wellington on Tuesday protesting against Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza and calling on the New Zealand Government to end its neutral stance.

Father Gerard Burns, the parish priest of Te Parisi o te Ngakau Tapu in Porirua, was one of the protest leaders and smeared the blood and paint on the Yitzhak Rabin peace memorial.

"I have a great esteem for the Jewish faith. I mean the founder of Christianity was Jewish ... but, the Israeli state is another beast altogether", Father Burn said.

Kiwi Friends of Israel called for Father Burns to apologise for his actions.

"Kiwi Friends of Israel strongly supports the right of all New Zealanders to have a robust debate on the rights and wrongs of Israel's policies but attacking peace memorials isn't legitimate behaviour."

Auckland's Catholic Bishop Patrick Dunn also called for Father Burns to apologise.

"I believe that Father Gerard Burns owes an apology to the New Zealand public, the Jewish community and to his colleagues in the Catholic clergy," he told The New Zealand Herald.

Relations between the Vatican itself and Israel grew tense on Thursday when the Jewish state condemned an aide to Pope Benedict for calling Gaza "a big concentration camp".

Police received a complaint from former honorary Israeli consul in New Zealand David Zwartz, The Dominion Post reported.

Inspector Simon Perry said it was too early to say whether charges would be laid.

More than 850 Palestinians have been killed since Israel started bombarding Gaza on December 27 with the aim of halting Hamas rocket attacks. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died and three Israeli civilians have been killed since the offensive began.