Reports said a  radical Islamist preacher has suggested that the MP may have been targeted due to his stance on Israel.

In a statement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: ‘’We will never forget Sir David’s long and deep friendship to our community.’’

British Member of Parliament Sir David Amess, who was killed last Friday in London in an Islamist terror attack, was a friend of Israel and of the Jewish people.

Amess, 69, was stabbed multiple times while meeting voters at a church at Leigh-on-Sea, a city east of London. He died at the scene despite efforts by emergency services. London’s Metropolitan Police Service declared the incident an act of terrorism and said that preliminary investigation had “revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism.”

The suspect, identified as Ali Harbi Ali, 25, a British citizen of Somali origin, was arrested by police who believes he acted alone.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service declared the incident an act of terrorism and said that preliminary investigation had “revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism.”

Reports said a  radical Islamist preacher has suggested that the MP may have been targeted due to his stance on Israel.

Anjem Choudary, a former leader of the proscribed group Islam4UK, was convicted of inviting support for ISIS in 2016 and jailed until his early release in 2018.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Choudary said he was unsure about Sir David’s views but added he was rumoured to be pro-Israel.

“Many people do believe that Israel is a terrorist state, and who would possibly be a friend of Israel after you see the carnage that they carried out against Muslims in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and continue to do with the appropriation of properties,” he told the paper.

Amess has served as the honorary secretary of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI).

The Jewish Chronicle recalls that from the 1980s he campaigned for the erection of a statue honouring Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from deportation while the country was under Nazi occupation.

In 1997 Queen Elizabeth unveiled the statue, located outside Western Marble Arch Synagogue.

Earlier this year, speaking at the Holocaust Memorial Day debate, Sir David said although he was a Catholic, “there is Jewish blood in each and every one of us,” and he “would certainly have been proud to have been born a Jew.”ror attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that Amess was “a true friend of the Jewish community and the State of Israel,” whose loss “will be felt by many.” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Amess “always stood with the Jewish people,” adding, “may his memory be for a blessing.”

Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also described Amess as ‘’a true friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

In a statement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: ‘’We will never forget Sir David’s long and deep friendship to our community.’’

The Jewish Leadership Council said that ‘’he always had a very strong and warm relationship with his local Jewish community.’’

Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, said of Amess: “A long time supporter and campaigner for the Holocaust Educational Trust, joining us at every gathering, and encouraging us in everything we did.’’