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A MEMBER of a panel that fined leading Jewish lawyer Mark Lewis for sending “offensive” messages in response to a three-year hate campaign against him has been found to have a history of making anti-Israel comments.

Millius Palayiwa was on the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) panel that ruled Mr Lewis should be fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs for sending death-wish messages to those who were abusing him.

Mr Palayiwa gave a speech in March 2009 to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in which he picked out Israel for criticism.

He said: “Will all the waters of the oceans wash off the blood from the hands of the USA, the UK and Israel? Here I am thinking of Guantanamo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza.”

In 2015, speaking at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, he asked: “How can Jews, who themselves were victims of racial hatred, treat Palestinians in the way they do?… For me, the future lies in peace and reconciliation. This would be achievable through the establishment of a secular, pluralistic democracy that includes all of Palestine/Israel.”

Mr Palayiwa, who studied law at Oxford University, has been a member of the SDT tribunal since 2009.

During the hearing, Mr Palayiwa and the rest of the panel heard how Mr Lewis was subjected to “thousands” of antisemitic messages from neo-Nazis.

Paul Charney, chair of the Zionist Federation, called on the tribunal to “ensure that this case is re-tested against a backdrop of fairness”.