The Israeli ambassador to Britain has written to the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, to express his abhorrence at “offensive and shocking” comments made by David Ward MP on the presence of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the solidarity march in Paris on Sunday.

During the march, which followed last week’s terror attacks in the French capital that left 17 people dead, the Lib Dem MP for Bradford East tweeted: “#Netanyahu in Paris march – what!!! Makes me feel sick” and “Je suis #Palestinian.”

In the letter to the deputy prime minister, ambassador Daniel Taub writes: “At a time when leaders were united in condemnation of extremist atrocities, Mr Ward’s statement is a disgraceful attempt to politicise suffering, delegitimise Israel, and justify acts of terror.

“It also exhibits a callous disregard for the Jews of France, many of whom look to Israel as they are increasingly targeted merely because of their religion.”

Taub said that “more shocking still is the continued impunity that [Ward] seems to enjoy from his party”.

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said the MP did not speak for the party and that his tweet was “clearly in bad taste”.

“[David Ward] has well-known and strongly held views on this issue but this tweet was clearly in bad taste.

“The Liberal Democrats believe fundamentally in the values of tolerance, openness and compassion, values that have been reaffirmed in the last week in the response of millions to the terrorist attacks in France.”

The spokesperson added: “Our sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives and were caught up in those horrific attacks. Now is a time for us to come together in solidarity and in defence of the freedoms that we hold dear.”

Ward has a record of causing controversy with his remarks on Israel. In 2013, he was reprimanded by his party for “use of language” after he compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust. Later that year, he was suspended by the Lib Dems and had the whip withdrawn for two months for tweeting: “Am I wrong or am I right? At long last the Zionists are losing the battle – how long can the apartheid State of Israel last?”

In July last year, the Lib Dems threatened Ward with disciplinary action and he was forced to issue an apology after he said that he would probably fire a rocket into Israel if he lived in Gaza. Ward said his comments were “not in support of firing rockets into Israel” and he was sorry “if they gave the opposite impression”.