An American musician has performed in Israel despite a campaign mounted by pro-Palestinian activists encouraging him to boycott the gig.

American dance act LCD Soundsystem, the stage name of producer James Murphy, played to both Israeli and Arab fans at a concert in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

By appearing at the Heineken Music Festival Mr Murphy defied the efforts of anti-Israel protesters, who had bombarded the LCD Soundystem Facebook page with messages accusing him of endorsing “a fascist mass murdering regime”.

One person wrote on the page: “Many Israelis believe it is right to murder Palestinian babies. They don’t even consider it a murder.”

The activists had also set up a Facebook group entitled “Please don't play for Apartheid Israel.” One member of the group commented: “Do you want to play for slow genocide?” while another wrote: “Do you want to play for war criminals?”

Last month a group of Irish artists launched a cultural boycott of Israel, while in May Elvis Costello cancelled a performance in Israel for “political reasons”.

However others, including Johnny Rotten, Missy Elliot and Rihanna have all ignored calls to pull out of concerts.

Watch a clip from the LCD Soundsystems Tel Aviv concert here