The Scottish Labour Party has said its leader Kezia Dugdale will reply to a group calling for her to take a firm stand against any party members who are found to have made anti-semitic comments.
She reiterated her view that comments by former London mayor Ken Livingston, when he said Hitler had been a supporter of Zionism, were 'appalling'.
However Scottish Labour was unable to confirm that she would act to suspend members guilty of such statements, as issues of party discipline are still the responsibility of the UK party.
Read more: I won't quit even if we're beaten by Tories, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale
The comments came as Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn continues to face pressure over whether the party has taken a strong enough line over alleged antisemitism among its membership. Ms Dugdale herself admitted the controversy is hurting Labour's electoral chances in Thursday's Scottish Parliament Elections.
Glasgow Friends of Israel (GFI) wrote to the Scottish Labour leader on Thursday, asking her to condemn the comments made by Mr Livingston, and looking for confirmation that any party member north of the border who made similar comments would be treated the same way as Naz Shah, the Bradford West MP, who was accused of anti-semitism over Facebook posts made before she was an MP. Both Livingston and Shah have since had their party membership suspended.
In their letter to Ms Dugdale, GFI said: "We ... seek your commitment that in your position as leader of the Scottish Labour Party you would ensure that were any member of your party in Scotland to make or to have previously made similarly offensive and anti-Semitic remarks, that they would be treated in exactly the same way as Naz Shah MP," the letter said.
Read more: Dumping Dugdale would be madness but watch this space, says Iain Macwhirter
The group's co-chair Sammy Stein said the group were hoping for a response so that they could distribute it ahead of Thursday's Scottish elections. "We want to know if she will treat any Scottish politician in the same way - suspension and investigation. We haven't had a reply yet," he said.
Dr Denis MacEoin, a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and former Newcastle University lecturer, writing for the Herald today, said that Scottish Jews are concerned that left-wingers and some members of the Labour Party are anti-semitic. He said vetting of candidates was a matter for Scotland's political parties. "Perhaps the suggestion by UK Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson MP that the party south o the border tightens its vetting procedures might usefully be applied here as a first step in ridding our polity of this intolerant poison," he said.
A spokesman for Labour in Scotland said party discipline was a matter for the UK party, but Kezia Dugdale had been swift to condemn Mr Livingston in her public comments. He confirmed that the Labour leader would reply to Glasgow Friends of Israel.
Read more: Kezia Dugdale admits Labour anti-Semitism row has damaged her election campaign
At a UK level, Labour's leader Jeremy Corbyn is under increasing pressure over his handling of the anti-semitism row, which comes as the party is facing a potentially disastrous night in elections across the UK on Thursday.
Yesterday former minister Ian Wright suggested that it was not 'do or die' time for Mr Corbyn but some shadow cabinet members are understood to be considering their positions, and could resign in the coming weeks.
Labour was forced to suspend another councillor yesterday, after he reportedly described "Zionist Jews" as a "disgrace to humanity" and allegedly reposted a controversial image calling for Israel to be relocated to the United States. The suspension of the former mayor and Blackburn with Darwen councillor, came just hours after Nottingham City councillor Ilyas Aziz was suspended over his own controversial social media posts about Israel.
Both Mr Aziz and Mr Mulla were suspended shortly after their posts were highlighted on the Guido Fawkes website, in a sign that Labour is taking a more decisive approach on the issue.
Mr Corbyn was previously accused of responding too slowly to deal with similar incidents, most notably his ally Mr Livingstone's incendiary assertion, while defending Ms Shah, that Hitler was supporting Zionism before he "went mad and ended up killing six million Jews".
The Labour leader has announced an independent review and pledged to tighten party codes of conduct on anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in a bid to put a lid on the furore.
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