The National Union of Students (NUS) suspended an election candidate while it investigated a complaint that he praised Benjamin Netanyahu's election victory on stage.

University of Exeter undergraduate Jack Morewood, who is running to be Student Director, made the comment during a panel at the NUS conference on Wednesday.

The NUS lifted the suspension after giving him a verbal warning.

Video shows Mr Morewood said at the end of his remarks: “Congrats to King Bibi, big mazeltov to him for his successful re-election in Israel yesterday”.

His comments drew a chorus of boos and shouts of “Free Palestine!”

On Twitter, someone shared a video of his remarks and the reaction, urging the University of Exeter to not "let your student, Jack Morewood, who’s running for public positions within your university and NUS, run.

"The comment congratulating a FAR FACIST [sic] LEADER is absolutely disgusting, and as you can hear, A LOT of upset was caused. Please take action against him”.

The same person shared a screenshot of the NUS’ response to a formal complaint, which set out that the chief returning officer has the right to suspend a candidate or withdraw them from the election.

The response added the NUS had "taken the decision to suspend the candidate in question until such a time as the DPC has made a decision regarding the breach of the code of conduct".

The NUS confirmed that “following completion of that code of conduct investigation earlier today, Jack Morewood’s suspension was lifted and he is therefore a candidate in the elections taking place today”.

When reached for comment, Mr Morewood said he is “now unsuspended and [has] received a verbal warning” and said there had been protests against him during his election speech on Thursday morning.

He said he would not comment further while standing for election.

Mr Morewood's past manifesto for the Exeter Students' Guild, of which he is a member, appears to mock BDS against Israel, which remains NUS policy.

The manifesto says the guild should "boycott a new country each day. An hour will be spent questioning that country’s right to exist for base-less reasons, and after we’ve boycotted all countries, the Guild will declare independence".