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The Board of Deputies of British Jews has welcomed Labour's decision to expel activist Tony Greenstein, claiming he had a history of "noxious" behaviour.

Tony Greenstein had his membership revoked on Sunday after a meeting of the party's National Constitutional Committee (NCC) in Brighton.

Mr Greenstein was found to have breached Labour rules following an internal disciplinary process.

The activist, who describes himself as an anti-Zionist was accused of making offensive comments including the use of the anti-Semitic term "zio".

Zionism is a term used to describe people who support the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East, and often includes support for the modern state of Israel.

(Image: Twitter)

Anti-Zionists, as Mr Goldstein describes himself, oppose the Zionist movement and some of the actions of the Israeli state, particularly in relation to Palestine.

Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: "This had to be the right decision.

"Tony Greenstein's long record of noxious behaviour makes him an unsuitable member for any respectable political party.

"It is to be hoped that significant outstanding Labour Party disciplinary cases will follow swiftly and yield the same result.

"The Jewish community has waited long enough for the Labour Party to show that it is serious about zero tolerance of anti-Semitism. This result is a step in the right direction, but there is a way to travel yet."

A Labour spokesman said: "The National Constitutional Committee (NCC) of the Labour Party has today found that all three charges of a breach of the Labour Party's rule 2.1.8 by Tony Greenstein have been found proved.

(Image: WENN.com)

"The NCC consequently determined that the sanction for the breach of Labour Party rules will be expelled from membership.

"The Labour Party will make no further comment on this matter."

Defending himself against the accusations prior to the hearing on his blog he wrote: "I am accused of ‘anti-Semitism for the same reason as thousands of people, including Jeremy Corbyn, Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Gerald Kaufman and Hannah Arendt have been so accused.

"Most of the targets of these accusations are themselves Jewish. This is an accusation made by Jewish racists (Zionists) against their anti-racist Jewish opponents. My only crime is that I oppose Zionism and the Apartheid State of Israel"

Mr Greenstein told Mirror Online: "I was targeted by the Jewish Labour movment because I'm Jewish and because I oppose the state of Israel and its discrimination against Palestinians.

"I'm an anti-Zionist, I'm opposed to all forms of anti-Semitism and all racism."

Mr Greenstein became a member of the party in October 2015.

But he was suspended after complaints to the party's compliance unit over the controversial comments.

It comes after Jeremy Corbyn and Labour have spent the last two years fighting accusations that they have failed to tackle antisemitism in the party.