The Anti-Defamation League has criticised Hollywood actor Jon Voight for a remark in which he compared Palestinian radicals to a "new Holocaust".

The non-Jewish actor, who is estranged from his daughter Angelina Jolie, is a well-known supporter of Israel and regularly hosts telethons in aid of Lubavitch.

He is currently in Israel for the "Restoring Courage" rally, organised by right-wing US pundit Glenn Beck.

At an event on Monday Mr Voight spoke of to the way that "media propaganda portraying the Palestinians as victims endangers the state of Israel".

Referring to the slaughter of five members of the Fogel family in Itamar in March, he said: "How have we come to a time when blowing up babies and cutting their throats are an acceptable means to a political goal."

But he added: "We are facing a new holocaust, and people of all faiths must demand that the truth be heard.

"The Palestinian radicals have only one prayer on their lips: To remove every Jew from Israel."

Abraham Foxman, the national director of the ADL, said the remark was "off-the-mark and inappropriate".

He added: "If anything, it's the Iranians who are threatening a Holocaust, not the Palestinians.

"I wish he had not used that characterisation."