Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has been facing criticism after a former staffer revealed the depth of his anti-Israel attitudes.

A former aide of the Texan politician, who previously sought the presidency as an independent candidate, claimed in a blog post that Mr Paul "wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all" and that he did not think the Holocaust was a reason for the US to fight in the Second World War.

Eric Dondero, writing on the RightWing News site, said in his time working for Mr Paul he had "never heard a racist word expressed towards Blacks or Jews come out of his mouth".

He said he was "absolutely" not antisemitic, and had no problems with American Jews, who he in fact "befriended" to gain political support. But he said Mr Paul was "most certainly anti-Israel, and anti-Israeli in general".

Mr Dondero added: "He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations.

"His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer.

"He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs."

"He strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler," said Mr Dondero. "He expressed to me countless times, that "saving the Jews," was absolutely none of our business. When pressed, he often times brings up conspiracy theories."

Mr Dondero said that Mr Paul felt that only reason to join the war would have been U-boats landing at the American coast. "He'd finally concede that that and only that was reason enough to counter-attack against the Nazis, not any humanitarian causes like preventing the Holocaust."

A spokesman for Mr Paul said Mr Dodnero was a disgruntled former staffer who had "zero credibility and should not be taken seriously".

Earlier this month the Republican Jewish Coalition excluded Mr Paul from a Washington DC panel event, on the grounds that he was too far "outside of the mainstream".