Tom Watson has confirmed he has raised concerns about MP Grahame Morris after the backbencher shared a video wrongly claiming it showed Israeli soldiers beating up Palestinian children.
Labour's deputy leader said he had complained to Chief Whip Nick Brown and General Secretary Jennie Formby about Mr Morris's actions, accusing him of “the amplification of the misinformation”.
Mr Watson also said he “shared concerns” after a number of complaints were made about Mr Morris’s tweet of a video originally placed on social media by a pro-Jeremy Corbyn tweeter "Rachael Swindon".
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Watson said: "Following a number of complaints relating to the distribution of fake news by a Labour Party member, and the amplification of the misinformation by my colleague Grahame Morris MP, I shared the concerns with the chief whip and general secretary of the Labour Party.
"Disciplinary matters are in their hands but I am sure they are in no doubt of the offence caused. I understand after a couple of attempts, Mr Morris has now made a full apology.
"Once again, I advise all Labour Party members, no matter what their status, to observe the social media code in our rule book and to exercise tolerance and respect in their public discussions."
The JC has learned that, when Mr Watson met with Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl and chief executive Gillian Merron on Tuesday for a pre-planned meeting, Mr Morris’ conduct was raised.
The Labour MP, who has regularly posts attacks on Israel, tweeted on Monday: "Marvellous, absolutely marvellous the Israeli Army, the best financed, best trained, best equipped army in the world caught on camera beating up Palestinian children for the fun of it.
"May God forgive them. What would Jim Royle say on an Easter Monday."
This message was widely condemned including by the Israel Defence Forces.
Following the anger over his tweet, Mr Morris initially refused to remove the comment, despite the fact Rachael Swindon deleted the video he was promoting.
He later said “many apologies for my honest mistake” but added: “There are lots of verifiable documented examples of the IDF abusing Palestinian child prisoners I have seen for myself in Court on the West Bank”.
But after further interventions he eventually said: "I am sorry for sharing a post which purports to show the IDF hurting children but it was in fact the Guatemalan Army.
"My error demonstrates the dangers of fake news online and I will be more diligent in future in checking my sources."
In 2014, Mr Morris tweeted to refer to “Zionist trolls” after he was condemned for supporting a pro-Palestine activist who displayed a map showing Israel wiped off a map of the region.
