Clegg acts after Bradford East MP tweeted that Zionists were 'losing the battle' and questioned future of 'apartheid state'

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A Liberal Democrat MP suspended by the party after questioning the continuing existence of the state of Israel has refused to apologise for his remarks.

David Ward, the MP for Bradford East, had the whip withdrawn on Wednesday after a series of rows with the party's most senior members over his views on Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians.

He was told that he would no longer be considered part of the parliamentary party at a meeting in Westminister after writing on his Twitter page on July 13: "Am I wrong or are am I right? At long last the Zionists are losing the battle - how long can the apartheid State of Israel last?"

Ward, who has a majority of 365 in his constituency, condemned the ruling as disproportionate saying such views were widely shared.

"I will not apologise for describing the state of Israel as an apartheid state. I don't know how you can describe it as anything else. I am genuinely quite shocked at the reaction to the kind of thing many people say," he said.

The Liberal Democrats have been accused of failing to respond quickly to allegations of anti-semitism before.

Last year, the Lib Dem peer Lady Tonge resigned the whip after refusing to apologise for an outspoken attack against Israel.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that Ward's suspension from the parliamentary party was "too little, too late" and "an empty gesture".

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "David Ward has never fully apologised for his comments, which deliberately abused the memory of the Holocaust and caused deep pain and offence. It is about time the whip was withdrawn."