Barack Obama could be refused membership to an prestigious golf club over his anti-Israel policies after he steps down as president.

Members of the exclusive Woodmont Country Club in Maryland have said an application by the outgoing President to join the historically Jewish club should be rejected, following his decision last month to abstain from a UN Security Council resolution criticising Israeli settlements.

In an email obtained by The Washington Post, a longtime member of the club, Faith Goldstein, wrote: “He has created a situation in the world where Israel’s very existence is weakened and possibly threatened.

“He is not welcome at Woodmont. His admittance would create a storm that could destroy our club.”

Another source from the Maryland club, where Mr Obama played four times during his presidency, told the New York Post: “In light of the votes at the UN and the Kerry speech and everything else, there’s this major uproar with having him part of the club, and a significant portion of the club has opposed offering him membership.”

An unnamed official from a Jewish organisation in Washington is meanwhile reported to have said: “Can you imagine how angry I would be if I had paid $80,000 to have to look at this guy who has done more to damage Israel than any president in American history?”

Other members however have responded to the alleged backlash against Mr Obama’s membership application with anger, with some deciding to resign their membership in protest, calling it a show of intolerance and a denial of freedom of speech.

Jeffrey Slavin, a mayor in Montgomery County, wrote in an email to the general manager condemning the decision to block the President from joining the club and cancelling his membership.

“I can no longer belong to a community where intolerance is accepted, where history is forgotten, where freedom of speech is denied, and where the nation’s first black president is disrespected,” Mr Slavin reportedly wrote.

Mr Obama’s complimentary membership in the club — which charges regular members an $80,000 initiation fee — would have begun after he leaves the White House on Friday (20 January).

But since the UN resolution, the club management is "not in position or likely to do it" due to threats of potential lawsuits and litigation for breaching the bylaws to allow the President to join, a source told the New York Post.

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When rumours first began to spread in Washington that Obama might consider joining the club, the CEO and general manager, Brian Pizzimenti, welcomed him. “We’d be honoured to have the president at the club as a member,” Pizzimenti told Jewish publication The Forward. “We’re glad to have offered [Mr Obama] fun and relaxation.”

The US abstained on a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem last month, allowing the UN Security Council resolution to pass 14-0.