Labour MP Naz Shah has stepped down as private secretary to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell after a series of social media posts she made about Jews and Israel were revealed.

The Bradford West MP, who defeated George Galloway in last year’s general election, backed the spending of “transportation costs” to move Israelis out of the Middle East.

In a statement Ms Shah said: "I deeply regret the hurt I have caused by comments made on social media before I was elected as an MP.

"I made these posts at the height of the Gaza conflict in 2014, when emotions were running high around the Middle East conflict. But that is no excuse for the offence I have given, for which I unreservedly apologise.

"In recognition of that offence, I have stepped down from my role as PPS to the shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

"I will be seeking to expand my existing engagement and dialogue with Jewish community organisations and will be stepping up my efforts to combat all forms of racism, including antisemitism."

The Guido Fawkes website revealed Ms Shah had shared a highly offensive graphic arguing in favour of the inflammatory “transportation” policy two years ago, during the summer before her election.

The JC also revealed that in August 2014, Ms Shah also posted a tweet with a link to a blog which claimed Zionism had been used to "groom" Jews to "exert political influence at the highest levels of public office".

In July 2014, at the height of the Gaza conflict, Ms Shah posted a link on Facebook to a newspaper poll asking whether Israel had committed war crimes.

She wrote: "The Jews are rallying to the poll." She then called on people to vote "yes".

In a post in September that year she appeared to liken Israel’s policies to those of Hitler.

Ms Shah claimed her views on Israel have moderated over the last two years.

In a statement issued by Labour, she said: "This post from two years ago was made before I was an MP, does not reflect my views and I apologise for any offence it has caused."

She posted the article about Zionism, titled "Colonisation, Israel, Palestinian resistance and...", from a blog called Walk Together, which encourages users to "listen and share feelings, ideas and views about Bradford and the world".

But the piece Ms Shah promoted claimed Zionism, "like Al Qaeda, was and is a political movement layered with religious symbolism".

It continued: "Zionism used this and the colonial period to groom other modernised men and women of Jewish descent to exert political influence at the highest levels of public office by using the guilt of the pogroms and offered a solution to the 'Jewish Question' in Europe."

The article concludes: "The reality is that through its historical and current colonial project the Zionist apparatus in Tel Aviv and globally continues to enact policies and practices that are deeply inhumane, that are unequal and have created physical realities that have left the mantra of Tony Blair precisely what it was meant to be an '(un)viable two state solution'."

The Guido Fawkes website revealed that Ms Shah had also shared a highly offensive graphic arguing in favour of the inflammatory “transportation” policy two years ago, during the summer before her election.

She added the words “problem solved” to a graphic which said the “solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be to “relocate Israel into the United States”.

The post suggested the financial cost of deporting Israelis would be “less than 3 years of defense spending” - the "$3bn dollars" the US "spends per year on Israeli defense".

Ms Shah added that the plan would “save them some pocket money“.

The MP confirmed to Guido Fawkes on Monday night that she was responsible for the posts, said she was sorry and would be making a full apology in a statement.

A number of Conservative MPs have called for Labour to remove the whip from Ms Shah and for her to step down from a select committee inquiry into antisemitism in Britain.

A Board of Deputies spokesman said: “Naz Shah’s comments about relocating Israelis to the United States are simply appalling.

"She has since apologised and stepped down as John McDonnell’s PPS. The Board has sought an urgent meeting for clarification of her views on Israel and the UK Jewish community.”

Rudi Leavor, chairman of Bradford Reform Synagogue in Ms Shah's constituency, said she had attended a number of events organised by the shul.

"Before she was elected I had asked her to come on a faith walk with us, and she came," he said.

"She came to the synagogue and it was her first function after being elected.

"We have become close friends and she has become a friend of the Jews. We are very close."

Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden wrote to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asking him to take action.

"A failure to act would call into question the commitment of the Labour Party to deal with wholly unacceptable behaviour and would constitute a betrayal of the values that all those who believe in democracy should uphold," Mr Dowden wrote.