Julian Huppert, the former Cambridge MP, has said his Jewish upbringing has taught him the importance of “thinking for oneself”, as he attempts to win back the seat he lost to Labour two years ago.

 

Dr Huppert said he hopes his “positive campaign” on the doorstep will be enough to overturn rival Daniel Zeichner’s majority of just 599 votes.

 

The 38-year-old and his parents, both academics, attended Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue in Cambridge, where Rabbi Brian Fox taught congregants “not just to accept the authority of what someone else says”, Dr Huppert said.

 

The Liberal Democrat candidate said: “We learned you need to think for yourself. You can’t just accept what someone else has told you. That was the thing that stuck with me.”

 

Dr Huppert asserted his right to criticise the actions of the Israeli state and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “as many Jews do” – but said such criticism is “unacceptable” when it crosses into antisemitism.

 

David Ward, the former Lib Dem Bradford East MP, was suspended and sacked as a general election candidate by his party after he accused Jews of “inflicting atrocities on Palestinians”.

 

A number of figures in the Labour Party, most notably Ken Livingstone, have been dogged by allegations of antisemitism.

 

Although he said he “did not follow” Mr Ward’s comments, Dr Huppert insisted there is “no place” for such remarks in British politics.

 

In 2013, Dr Huppert visited Israel and said he hoped to increase links between high-tech businesses in the country and in his constituency.

 

There were, he said, a number of similarities between firms operating in Israel’s technology industries and those in Cambridgeshire’s so-called “Silicon Fen”.

 

He felt that companies on both sides could benefit from better co-operation.

 

The politician previously studied at the Weizmann Institute, and four years ago told the JC: “I remember Rehovot as a tiny village — now it’s far more developed. It’s testament to the economic growth.”