A Jewish presenter who was reprimanded after challenging a pro-Palestinian author had previously been censured for showing bias towards Israel, insiders have claimed.

CBS has been thrown into crisis by accusations of anti-Israel prejudice after it said that Tony Dokoupil, one of its star news anchors, had fallen short of its editorial standards when he challenged Ta-Nehisi Coates over Israel’s right to exist.

In the interview, Mr Dokoupil told the academic that a section of his new book, The Message, which compares Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the Jim Crow laws of the American South, “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist”.

The situation has now descended into farce, after a CBS Morning source revealed to The Telegraph that the spat is the latest in a series of incidents in which Mr Dokoupil has been accused of editorialising his coverage and expressing pro-Israel views.

Other senior CBS journalists have voiced support for Mr Dokoupil and insiders said some colleagues were frustrated by negative coverage following the interview.

The internal scrap at one of America’s biggest broadcasters comes amid a public war of words with Donald Trump, after the former president called for CBS to have its licence taken away over its editing of a Kamala Harris interview which aired on Monday.

The CBS show 60 Minutes previewed a clip of Ms Harris answering a question on the subject of Israel that had been edited in the final cut to be more concise, raising questions over impartiality.