A row has broken out at a leading New York university because its board blocked a decision to give an honorary degree to the award-winning Jewish playwright Tony Kushner after coming under pressure from an activist who accused him of being anti-Israel.

John Jay College, part of City University of New York, had planned to grant Kushner the honour but was vetoed at a board meeting in the face of criticism from pro-Israeli activist Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a university trustee.

Wiesenfeld claimed that Kushner, who wrote the Pulizter prize-winning play Angels in America, had a history of saying that Israel had been founded by a policy of ethnic cleansing, been critical of the Israeli defence forces and advocated a boycott of the country.

"There's a lot of disingenuousness and non-intellectual activity directed against the state of Israel on campuses across the country," Wiesenfeld said, citing descriptions of Kushner's views that he admitted he found on the website of Norman Finkelstein, an academic who has been critical of Israel. After Wiesenfeld spoke the CUNY board voted to remove Kushner's name from a slate of candidates set to get an honorary degree. The remaining names on the slate were then passed.

Kushner, whose latest play is on Broadway, is one of the most famous and acclaimed names in modern American theatre. Angels in America, which is his best known piece, dealt with the Aids crisis in 1980s America. The play features people being persecuted for their political views, a theme that recurs elsewhere in his work.

In an open letter to the newspaper Jewish Week, Kushner responded furiously to the news that the honour had been withheld and revealed that he had not been told there would be any opposition to his award. "As far as I know, no one who might have spoken on my behalf was notified in advance. I'm not a difficult person to find, nor am I lacking in articulate colleagues and friends who would have responded," he said.

He denied the allegations by Wiesenfeld, who has a history of accusing academic institutions of being anti-Israel. Kushner said that he did not support a boycott of Israel and had always supported the Jewish state's right to exist.

"My opinion about the wisdom of the creation of a Jewish state has never been expressed in any form without a strong statement of support for Israel's right to exist and my ardent wish that it continue to do so," he said, adding that he was "very proud to be Jewish".

The controversy is not the university's first involving Wiesenfeld. In February Brooklyn College, another CUNY campus, fired Kristofer Petersen-Overton from a teaching post after objections were raised by Wiesenfeld and others about his views on Israel and the Middle East. In that case Wiesenfeld directly lobbied CUNY's chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, along with local Brooklyn politician Dov Hikind, to get the academic removed from his post. However, after a furious row in the media Petersen-Overton was reappointed.

A spokesman for CUNY did not return a call asking for comment.

• This article was amended on 6 May 2011. The original referred to Kristopher Petersen-Overton. The name spelling has been corrected.