The leader of Brent Council is the latest Labour politician to become embroiled in a row over Israel after he shared a Facebook post that called the country a terrorist state.
Cllr Muhammed Butt shared a clip on his page which claimed “Israel is a terrorist state like ISIS.”
The 49-year-old, who is the councillor for the Tokyngton ward, is also the lead member for equalities at London Council, a cross-party organisation that presents all 32 boroughs and the City of London.
The post, which was shared on April 16, has since been removed after the Labour Party was alerted to it by online website Jewish News.
When the Times contacted Cllr Butt he apologised for sharing the post adding that he had not noticed the comment comparing Israel to ISIS.
He said: “I am sorry for sharing the post. The video had 17,000 comments and if I had seen it I would never had shared the post in fact I would have reported it to Facebook.
“I am the leader of the most diverse borough in the country, if not Europe, and there is no way I would create any divisions.
“This is a lesson to make sure that people you have on your Facebook page are your actual friends.”
Yesterday the Labour Party suspended Cricklewood-resident Ken Livingston for “bringing the party into disrepute” after he claimed Hitler had supported Zionism “before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews”.
The former London Mayor and ex-Brent East MP, made the remark while defending Bradford West MP Naz Shah from allegations of anti-Semitism.
Ms Shah was also suspended yesterday pending an investigation into controversial social media posts about Israel which she made before becoming an MP.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here