A Knesset member who used a fake name to contribute to a Russian radio station has been rebuked by the Knesset's ethics committee.

Ksenia Svetlova, who represents the Zionist Union, was told to stop calling Moscow’s state-sponsored Sputnik radio station posing as an analyst .

Ms Svetlova, a former journalist, reportedly called the station numerous times to discuss a variety of subjects using the name ‘Aleksandra Kalinina’.

Defending her actions in an interview with Army Radio, she said: “As soon as the ethics committee told me to desist, I desisted. What’s the big deal?

“In my opinion the big deal is Israel’s failed public diplomacy in the Russian-speaking world.”

The politician said there was a need for an objective voice to defend Israel on Russian radio.

She came up with the fake name because she did not want her political role to affect the way her opinions were judged.

She will not be disciplined.