A furious row over anti-Semitism erupted in the Democratic Party on Wednesday as its leadership attempted to pass a resolution seen as condemning language used by one of its own members.

Senior Democrats wanted a statement to be adopted by the House of Representatives condemning "the dangerous consequences of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes".

The resolution was viewed as a direct rebuke of Ilhan Omar, a newly elected Democrat congresswoman who had compared support for Israel to "allegiance to a foreign country".

However there was a heated backlash from fellow Democrats who said Ms Omar, who is on the Left of the party, was being unfairly singled out by the leadership.

The dispute has echoes of the dispute over anti-Semitism raging in the Labour Party in Britain, which has seen MPs split on the severity of the problem and how to tackle it under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Ms Omar, who has already been once rebuked by Democratic leadership over her comments on Israel in the two months she has been in office, triggered this new row with a tweet: "I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee".