The Lib Dems have suspended a General Election candidate who urged people to drop WhatsApp because it was "Zionist backed". 

Waheed Rafiq, who is standing in Birmingham Hodge Hill, had demanded in a post in 2014 that his friends boycott WhatsApp because he claimed it was “Zionist backed”. He had also written: “Shocking to see how the Jewish government call them self Jews when they are wiping out all the people of Gaza”.

In the earlier post, he wrote: “Please note Jeff Rothschild is the Vice President of Infrastructure software and thus also a share holder in Facebook. There are other non Zionist apps such as the Telegram Messaging App.

"It's available on both android and apple users created by two brothers in Berlin. It's better encrypted, much safer and thus better than WhatsApp.

“Never forget WhatsApp is Zionist backed so all we do and say is monitored and can leave us vulnerable to be exploited later.”

In another post from 2014, he shared an image from an anti-Israel demonstration with a Star of David flag and the words “Genocide, Apartheid, Holocaust”.

He also showed a picture of a caricature of a Jewish man licking a melting ice lolly that had the colours of the Palestinian flag.

Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said: "It is utterly inexcusable to share a hideously antisemitic cartoon of a hook-nosed, bloodthirsty Jew or to rant about people using 'Zionist' websites and apps such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp."

Mr Rafiq suggested he had been hacked, writing on Facebook: ""I am looking into this to prove my position on this and am working with the Lib Dem party. To sort this out. I HAVE BEEN HACK!"