The Board of Deputies has urged the BBC to apologise for a report about Holocaust Memorial Day that linked the Israel-Palestine conflict to the Shoah.

BBC News broadcast the report on Wednesday evening in which international correspondent Orla Guerin described Israeli soldiers entering Yad Vashem to "share in the binding tragedy of the Jewish people", adding: "The state of Israel is now a regional power. 

"For decades it has occupied Palestinian territories. But some here will always see their nation through the prism of persecution and survival."

Amanda Bowman, a senior vice-president at the Board, said: “In an otherwise moving report on the experiences of a Holocaust survivor, Orla Guerin’s attempt to link the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the horrors of the Holocaust was crass and offensive.

"Her lack of partiality on the Israel-Palestine conflict has long been a matter of concern and it is questionable why the BBC would even use her for this sensitive assignment.

"As we approach Holocaust Memorial Day, the Jewish community is within its rights to expect an apology.”

The report also caused widespread anger on Twitter. Historian Simon Sebag-Montofiere called it "truly foul - managing to be both shamefully amoral and historically inaccurate, utterly cynical and complacently self-righteous all the same time".

Literary agent Jonny Geller called it "dishonest, damaging and obscene". 

A BBC spokesperson said: "The brief reference in our Holocaust report to Israel's position today did not imply any comparison between the two and nor would we want one to be drawn from our coverage."