If Benjamin Netanyahu’s new Israeli administration pushes an aggressive policy of settlement building it could hasten the creation of an independent Palestinian state, former British Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has warned.

The veteran MP said that if Mr Netanyahu acted “antagonistically” towards Israeli Arabs and “pushes settlements in a harsh way”, then “it’s only a matter of time until Palestine is a state”.

Speaking to the London Jewish Forum, Sir Malcolm said he had abstained in last October’s House of Commons vote on Palestinian statehood because he did not believe the time was right for an independent nation to be set up.

“The Palestinian entity is not yet a viable state,” he said, citing economic and other difficulties.

In a wide-ranging question and answer session, Sir Malcolm also focused on anti-Israel sentiment in Britain.

“I’m deeply disturbed by it,” he said. When he entered Parliament in 1974 “huge swathes” of MPs from all parties were Israel supporters. “Now it’s people making a distinction between supporting the state of Israel and the government policy.

“The people who are very hostile are into a delegitimisation exercise. I didn’t think they would make any headway at all; now I’m worried.”

The Conservative said members of the Jewish community could lobby their MPs more effectively by taking an individual approach, rather than expressing their views en masse.

Referring to campaigns launched by lobby groups, he said: “MPs aren’t idiots. If a member of the public cannot be bothered to compile their own email why should I be bothered to send an individual reply?”

Sir Malcolm was speaking a month after he was implicated in a “cash-for-access” row. The Kensington MP, in his last week in the Commons before standing down, is under fire after he was secretly filmed appearing to offer his services to a private firm for cash.

He denies any wrong-doing.

The issue was not raised at Tuesday evening’s event and Sir Malcolm did not charge the London Jewish Forum for his appearance.