A senior Conservative faces being expelled from the party after he accused ministers of being too pro-Israel.
Sir Alan Duncan, who was a Foreign Office minister for three years, made the comments as he called on the UK to stop selling arms to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the war in Gaza.
Speaking on LBC this morning, he said security minister Tom Tugendhat should be sacked for failing to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Sir Alan also took aim at former home secretary Priti Patel, the Conservative Friends of Israel group and the Tory peer Lord Polak, who he accused of “exercising the interests of another country”.
He said: “The time has come to flush out those extremists in our own parliamentary politics and around it, some of whom are at the very top of government or have been, and they have never been called to account.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Following his comments on LBC this morning, Alan Duncan has been informed in writing that he is under investigation by the party.”
Tory sources said the probe is likely to last around two weeks and could result in Duncan being expelled from the party.
Former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who is a vice-chair of the Conservative Friends of Israel, hit back at Sir Alan’s claims.
She told Radio 4′s World At One programme: “I disagree very strongly with Alan Duncan.
“Israel is an ally, it’s an important ally, and we should continue to support Israel in exercising its right to defend itself from a truly horrific terrorist attack.”