A council has been criticised for withdrawing a photography exhibition intended to show that football can bring diverse together communities in Israel.

Cardiff city council was accused on Friday of censorship, buckling to pressure from anti-Israel activists and failing to keep sport and politics separate, following its decision.

The Israeli football team arrives in the city to play Wales in a European Championship qualifier on Sunday, when anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrations are planned.

Politicians, Jewish community leaders and the Israeli embassy condemned the decision by the Labour-controlled council, which came after a complaint was made about the exhibition.

Cardiff council’s opposition leader, the Liberal Democrat Judith Woodman, described the move as shameful.

“I can’t believe what has happened,” she said. “Sport should be non-political. This is censorship. Cardiff council has led the way in diversity and community cohesion and in the past has not bowed to the minority who complain.”

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Woodman said she feared the move could demonstrate a wider bias against Israel within the council. “We live in a democracy and have freedom of speech. Cardiff council has totally disregarded this. People can protest to show their views. That is democracy. To censor something is harking back to bad days.”

The exhibition, entitled Low football – Jewish-Arab football: diversity and co-existence through lower-league football, opened at Cardiff central library earlier this week to coincide with the match.

A council spokesperson said: “Following a complaint, it was decided to review the material and the exhibit was withdrawn. The council is aware there are protests planned around the Wales-Israel game at the weekend and this was taken into consideration.

“Our libraries are buildings that promote free speech but it was felt that running this exhibition could lead visitors to suppose that the council was displaying bias. This is of course not the case.”

The spokesperson said the decision had been made at officer level, not by an elected councillor.

It is not known who made the complaint, but the council’s decision was welcomed by Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, one of the organisations behind the protests on Sunday.

Its secretary, Adam Johannes, said: “We welcome Cardiff council’s decision to cancel an exhibition sponsored by the Israeli embassy that whitewashes the reality of football in the Middle East. Israel wages war on Palestinian football. How can a country be allowed to compete in international matches when it prevents another Fifa member playing football freely?”

The Israeli embassy in London said it supported the exhibition and helped the photographers by reprinting the pictures to allow the project to be displayed in Cardiff ahead of the game.

The embassy’s chargé d’affaires, Eitan Na’eh, said the council had surrendered to the forces of extremism.

“Tolerance towards intolerance is cowardice, and this is the unfortunate sight we witnessed in Cardiff, in the face of vile threats by a small group of thugs,” he said.

“Cardiff is hosting a football game between the Israel and Wales national teams. Football is the one sport that can bring peoples and nations from around the world together. Ahead of the game, a photography exhibition was opened at Cardiff’s central library, which aims to promote coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel, as they live and play football together.

“It’s these pictures of coexistence that intolerant thugs wish to erase, so that no one might realise that there is one country in the Middle East where such coexistence exists. Britain has long been the home of a people who have shown the world the meaning of determination and bravery: in Wales this week we witnessed a surrender to the forces of extremism.”

Philip Kaye, the honorary consul of Israel in Wales, said: “I would have hoped that this weekend would have been about sport and the possible historical moment in football but alas there are some who wish to hijack the occasion and politicise the event. This is a very bad reflection on Cardiff and Wales, who normally champion diversity and co-existence.”

Low football was created by Gad Salner and Vadim Tarasov, who travelled to football grounds across Israel to record the places where – in their words – “the seemingly ever-present tension between cultures evaporates, and where diversity is embraced, encouraged and celebrated”.

The photographs have been shown across Europe, in the US and in south-east Asia. They have also been displayed at the Quad arts centre in Derby and in the Guardian’s offices in London.

Salner said Cardiff was the first place in which there had been controversy over the images. He said the council had offered him no explanation for its decision.

“It’s sad that it has come to this. It’s a cliche, but politics and football should not be mixed,” he said.

Later the council said the central library offered a range of services including storytime sessions for children and advice on benefits. “While it has the facilities to accommodate exhibitions and other non-essential activities, this is not its prime function.”

When it realised there was potential for a demonstration that could disrupt access, officers decided to remove the exhibition “for operational reasons”.

In a statement it added: “From an operational perspective it is important that our buildings are open and accessible to all and it is important that at no time should we be in a position where any exhibition could lead visitors to suppose that the council could be seen to be displaying a political bias.”

The Zionist Federation and groups North West Friends of Israel and Sussex Friends of Israel have organised transport to the game for activists who want to support Israel.

