Pink Floyd star Roger Waters has come under attack from Jewish leaders after comparing the modern state of Israel to Nazi Germany.

Earlier this month (Dec13), the controversial musician gave an interview to editors at left wing U.S. magazine CounterPunch and compared the massacre of millions of Jews by Adolf Hitler's regime during the Holocaust to the present struggles faced by Palestinians in their ongoing fight over border and security issues with neighbouring Israel.

He said, "There were many people that pretended that the oppression of the Jews was not going on. From 1933 until 1946. So this is not a new scenario. Except that this time it's the Palestinian people being murdered."

His comments have since infuriated a group of Jewish leaders, who have described Waters' comments as a form of anti-Semitism.

Leading American thinker, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, writes in an article for the New York Observer, "Mr. Waters, the Nazis were a genocidal regime that murdered six million Jews. That you would have the audacity to compare Jews to monsters who murdered them shows you have no decency, you have no heart, you have no soul."

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust in England, adds to Britain's The Observer, "Everyone is entitled to an opinion and to advocate passionately for a cause, but drawing inappropriate parallels with the Holocaust insults the memory of the six million Jews - men, women, and children - murdered by the Nazis. These kinds of attacks are commonly used as veiled anti-Semitism and should be exposed as such."

This is not the first time Waters, who is a well-known supporter of the Palestinian cause, has had to defend his actions and comments. He was criticised after he beamed a Star of David symbol onto a flying inflatable pig during his The Wall Live Tour concert in Belgium in August (13).

The veteran rocker has also been encouraging other musicians to follow his lead and refuse to perform gigs in Israel, and he has won the support of several British musicians, including Elvis Costello and Annie Lennox.