London’s King’s College has ordered an urgent investigation after pro-Palestinian protesters rioted to disrupt a speech by Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israel’s Shin Bet secret service at a student society event.

Demonstrators threw chairs, broke a window and set off a fire alarm at the event, hosted jointly by the Israel societies of King’s College London and London School of Economics.

Police were called to restore order at the meeting and the building at King’s College on the Strand in central London had to be evacuated.

One of the organisers of the event described how she was assaulted when demonstrators from the KCL Action Palestine (KCLAP) group stormed the event - attended by more than 200 people - and began throwing chairs, smashing windows, and setting off the fire alarm more than 15 times.

She added how four police vehicles and more than 15 officers attend the scene to “protect the people inside the room,” and continued: “It was never inevitable that it would turn violent...not to the point where my event had to be stopped and the building evacuated because college security and the police were so scared they would light a real fire, and that we wouldn’t know because of the false alarms.”

The Board of Deputies President and Vice President condemned the actions as “violent and criminal ”, whilst the he Israeli Embassy said it was “shocking and shameful”, reflecting the “fear that groups centred around hatred of Israel harbour.”

British Universities Minister Jo Johnson said ''Britain and Israel share many important academic links and speakers must be able to address meetings peacefully.''