Agence France Presse (AFP), one of the world major press agencies, apparently deleted Israel in a map of the Middle East on its Twitter and Facebook page.

The map on the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf following the decision of Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region to sever ties with Qatar, mentions only the West Bank and Gaza but not Israel.

Shimon Samuels, Director for international relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Paris, denounced the deletion in a letter to Agence France-Presse Chairman and CEO Emmanuel Hoog.

"Our members are horrified at the AFP map of the Middle East appearing on Twitter and your Facebook page,’’ he wrote.

He continued, "when Iran first wiped the State of Israel off the map, this was defined by many as 'genocidal intent'".

The letter argued, "that AFP - an important global news agency - appears to sink so low as to commit the same outrage, we can only hope that this was the act of an anti-Semitic lone-wolf or a budding,Jihadist employee".

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre called for "an AFP investigation, condemnation and immediate dismissal of the perpetrator".

"Inaction on this issue will be construed as an AFP endorsement of Iranian declared policy to exterminate the Jewish State and an encouragement to it followers," concluded Samuels.