A Scottish National Party candidate has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be tried for war crimes.

Stewart McDonald, who is standing in Glasgow South, has also backed a boycott of Israel, according to the Common Space website.

Speaking at a hustings last Thursday, he is reported to have said: “I think we need to get Netanyahu in front of a war crimes trial.

“The Palestinian issue was one of the things that brought me into politics. It is one of the biggest injustices still going on today and I’m a proud member of the SNP’s friends of Palestine group.

“It is British imperialism at its worst. Where someone sits in a hall and divides up a piece of land that they have never visited or been to, and look at the problems that it causes.

“If it looks like apartheid then I’m going to call it apartheid and that’s what it looks like to me. Boycott, divestment and sanctions is worthwhile pursuing and is one of the things I really hope to move forward on.”

But Labour candidate Tom Harris, a member of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “I’ve been a long-term supporter of the two-state solution. We need Hamas to stop firing rockets into Israel and recognise Israel’s right to exist. When that happens then I would hope to see a removal of the blockade in Gaza.”

An SNP spokesperson said: "This is Mr McDonald's personal view."

Glasgow South is currently held by Labour, where Mr Harris won with a majority of 12,658 in 2010. The SNP candidate is odds-on favourite to take the constituency in May.