An argument Cineworld not screening a film about Robert the Bruce in Scotland led to some Scottish Nationalists blaming the chain’s Israeli owners for the decision.

Cineworld was heavily criticised by Scottish Nationalists for not scheduling Robert the Bruce, a biopic about the famous leader starring Angus Macfayden.

A campaign was set up by to protest against the decision, which Mr Macfayden and a number of SNP MPs backed.

But some of those protesting began to question whether the decision not to screen the film had been made via the Israeli owners of Cineworld.

“I have just had a conversation with the Aberdeen branch manager”, one prominent Nationalist Twitter account tweeted.

“She told me she has been kept in the dark by HQ. The chief executive she believes took the descion [sic] he is based in Israel.”

The CEO of Cineworld is Moshe “Mooky” Greidinger, whose family had a controlling stake in Cinema City International, which Cineworld took over in 2014.

“Someone posted the Board members. Quite a few Israelis. Why would they want to influence a screening?” mused one Nationalist.

“Because they don’t want another sovereign state that supports Palestine”, another replied.

“Difficult to criticise them in these days of antisemitism, but as this is the arts the company seems to be populated by a load of Shylocks desperately trying to extract their last pound of flesh instead of building an illegal settlement on it”, another account wrote.

“Imagine if this was a culturally significant film about the Holocaust. I bet they would dare [sic] ban that from their cinemas”, said another.

Other accounts discussed whether Mr Greidinger has “friends in Mossad”, although they did not elaborate on why Israel’s intelligence service would seek to block the screening of the film, which has received mixed reviews from critics.

But one journalist who looked into the story wrote that the "Robert the Bruce film is not being screened at Cineworld because the distributor involved did not come to an agreement with Cineworld. That’s it. That is the story.”

A number of other Nationalist Twitter accounts criticised those suggesting the conspiracy theory.

“There has already been an explanation tonight as why cineworld did not show the film. No conspiracy at all. It’s about time yessers [those supporting Scottish Independence] stopped this knee jerk reaction over everything. It makes us look like idiots,” one wrote.

Others pointed out that Robert the Bruce had not received funding from Creative Scotland because it was not deemed Scottish enough, most of it having been filmed in America.

“Personally as a pro Independence actor and writer I think Cinema chains that support an active present and modern Scottish Film Industry as well as thousands of other employees matters more than yet another Robert Bruce hagiography”, another account wrote.

On Monday, Cineworld reversed its decision, announcing that it would show Robert the Bruce at five of its seven Scottish locations.