A senior UN official has resigned over the withdrawal of a report accusing Israel of imposing an apartheid regime on Palestinians, saying powerful member states pressured the world body and its Chief with vicious attacks and threats. <br/><br/>United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary for the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Rima Khalaf, announced her resignation at a news conference in Beirut after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked for the report to be taken off the ESCWA website. <br/><br/>ESCWA, which comprises 18 Arab states, published the report on Wednesday and said it was the first time a UN body had clearly charged that Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.<br/><br/>Israel fiercely rejects the allegation and likened the report to Der Sturmer – a Nazi propaganda publication that was strongly anti-Semitic. The United States, an ally of Israel, had said it was outraged and demanded the report be withdrawn.<br/>