She added: 'I'll answer your questions when there is peace for Palestinians'

But in her reply, she said the teenager should look into Israel's history

Dr Levine is an expert on the history of the domestication of horses

An ex-Cambridge academic has refused to answer an inquisitive 13-year-old Israeli girl's questions on horses 'until there is peace and justice for Palestinians'.

Teenager Shachar Rabinovitch emailed Dr Marsha Levine to ask her some basic questions about horses for a school assignment.

But Dr Levine - a former Cambridge academic considered an expert on the history of domestication of horses - responded with a link to the homepage of lobby group Jews for Justice for Palestinians.

A former Cambridge academic told 13-year-old Shachar Rabinovitch (pictured), from Israel, she would not answer the teenager's questions until there was 'peace and justice for Palestinians'

In the email exchange, the teenager said she was working a school assessment about horses and it would be 'great' if Dr Levine could help her.

She said: ‘I know you are a very important person and I’ve read your article about horses (Domestication, Breed Diversification and Early History of the Horse).

‘I love horses and it will be an honour if you will answer my questions.’

She then asked four basic questions about ancient horse breeds - including where they lived and what were the most common types.

Dr Marsha Levine - a former Cambridge academic - responded to the request with a link to the homepage of lobby group Jews for Justice for Palestinians

But Dr Levine's response stated: 'You might be a child, but if you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people.

'Maybe your family has the same views as I do, but I doubt it. So, I suggest that you look at this link.'

She included a link to the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the website of the Jews for Justice for Palestinians - of which she is a member.

The original email, along with Dr Levine's response, was posted on Facebook by Shachar's father Shamir Rabinovitch.

He told Camilla Turner and Raf Sanchez from The Daily Telegraph he was shocked at the academic's reply, and questioned if her response was productive.

Mr Rabinovitch told the paper: 'I think it's OK to have different opinions about Israel and we make a lot of mistakes in this country, like in all countries. But it's not OK to involve children in this stuff.

'How can she make all these assumptions about what we think and who we are?'

In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, Dr Levine defended her response, claiming that the 'Jews have become the Nazis.'

'Jews are behaving just like the people who treated them. It’s not all Israelis or all Jews. I gave her useful information which might help her for the rest of her life. I have to stand up for what I believe in.'

Shachar’s father, Shamir Rabinovitch, said children should be ‘out of the equation’ when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The family live in a mixed Jewish and Arab area north of Tel Aviv, near a school for Jews and Arabs.

Mr Rabinovitch said: ‘I was so angry. We live in an area which is very mixed — the claim of racism doesn’t fit us at all. Political arguments should be conducted by adults. It was an apolitical and innocent question from a girl. She’s not responsible for bad things that happen around her.’

Pictured is the transcript of the email exchange between 13-year-old Shachar Rabinovich and Dr Marsha Levine, as it was posted on Facebook by the teenager's father

Dr Levine told the Mail she had been targeted because of her response to Shachar, adding: ‘I have been getting hate mail.’

Asked if she thought it unfair to bring a child into a political debate she said: ‘Children are the future, children should understand.

‘I think her parents set her up. They would have checked on Facebook and they would have known my position on Israel.

‘It is insane. The real issue isn’t the horribleness of a woman who refuses to talk about horses. The issue is why is Israel, on a daily basis, is trying to destroy Palestinian society.’