LABOUR have been engulfed in a fresh antisemitism row after prominent MPs condemned protests against the “ultra-right wing” Israeli ambassador.

Tzipi Hotovely, who previously called the Palestinian Nakba a “popular Arab lie”, spoke at an event held by the London School of Economics (LSE) Students' Union debating society on Tuesday night.

The Israeli ambassador to the UK, a self-described “religious right-winger”, has also previously said that “there needs to be one state only - the state of Israel” and said there is “no reality” where a Palestinian state or people exist.

A protest organised by the LSE for Palestine group took place while Hotovely was speaking, accusing the university of legitimising her “racist” views.

Video posted online showed bodyguards bundling the ambassador into a car after the event as protesters shouted: “Aren’t you ashamed?”

In a statement, LSE for Palestine strongly denied there was any violence on the protesters’ part. The group further accused the university of failing in its duty of care to Palestinian students.

Sharing the video on Twitter, Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds MP responded by saying: “Shocking scenes last night involving Israel’s Ambassador. Antisemitism has no place in our society.

“I wish @TzipiHotovely well and support the police in any investigation.”

READ MORE: Palestinian diplomat criticises MSP Richard Lyle's Nakba comments

The party’s shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, commented: “The appalling treatment of Israeli Ambassador @TzipiHotovely is completely unacceptable. There is no excuse for this kind of behaviour.

“Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and any attempt to silence or intimidate those we disagree with should never be tolerated.”

UK Government ministers, including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Home Secretary Priti Patel, also spoke out to condemn the protests.

Truss wrote on Twitter: “We in Britain believe in freedom of speech. The treatment of Israeli Ambassador @TzipiHotovely last night and the attempt to silence her was unacceptable.”

Patel echoed the message, writing: “Disgusted by the treatment of the Israeli Ambassador at LSE last night. Antisemitism has no place in our universities or our country.

“I will continue to do everything possible to keep the Jewish community safe from intimidation, harassment and abuse.”

The National: Torfaen MP and Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds

Commenting on Thomas-Symonds’s (above) “antisemitism” allegation, left-wing commentator Owen Jones wrote: “The Shadow Home Secretary has used his platform to denounce young students at LSE as antisemites - because they protested against an Israeli Ambassador who is a right-wing extremist who wants to annex all Palestinian land.

“He needs to justify his claim.”

On Nandy, he wrote: “Labour's shadow foreign secretary comes to the defence of a far-right extremist who calls for the annexation of all Palestinian land, against young students - including Jewish students - opposing racism and what Human Rights Watch deems to be Apartheid.”

Jones claimed he had been contacted by many students at LSE facing abuse due to the high-profile politicians’ statements, saying that the Labour shadow ministers had been “putting massive targets on the students' backs”.

A social media account linked to the demonstration and cited as evidence of violent intent has also been labelled fake by those same students.

In a statement, LSE said the student-led event had been “orderly” and denied Hotovely had fled, instead saying she had left “as scheduled”.

The university said it would take action if any student was found to have threatened violence.

When Hotovely was made Israeli ambassador, Labour peer Jeremy Beecham said the appointment of "an ultra-right wing ambassador, while typical of the present government of Israel, will do nothing to win friends in the UK — or indeed any other reasonable country”.