The chairman of Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) has vowed to continue in his role amid a "vicious" campaign during which he and his family have received "the most terrible abuse".

It follows a meeting on October 21 at which county councillors voted narrowly for the authority to review its pension policy in light of a petition presented by the Herts Palestine Support Coalition, which claims the council's pension fund has invested £95 million "in companies complicit in grave human rights abuses against Palestinians".

Since then, Cllr Laurence Brass, who chaired the meeting, says he has received "thousands" of emails that he describes as "very nasty" – and at least one threat of physical violence that has been passed to Hertfordshire police.

He claims most of the emails, which call for him to resign or label him a "traitor", have come from within the Jewish community, of which he is a member.

Now an online petition has been launched calling for him to resign as chairman – but Cllr Brass has vowed to continue in the role, refusing to be deterred by threats and abuse that he says is based on "misinformation".

"[The petition] is part of a vicious campaign against me waged over the last two weeks," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"My family have been abused and I've been subjected to the most terrible abuse and bullying you could imagine.

"It's based on complete misinformation. And it's very distressing.

"I'm carrying on with my job. I've not been intimidated. I will not let the hate merchants win because they've got the wrong end of the stick."

At the October 21 meeting, the decision that HCC's pensions committee should review the council's 'Responsible Investment Policy' was made after councillors were presented with the Herts Palestine Support Coalition petition, backed by 1,525 residents, calling on the council to divest its pension fund from companies complicit in "war crimes, apartheid and occupation".

In particular it called for the Hertfordshire Local Government Pension Scheme to divest from companies "complicit in Israel's well-documented human rights abuses against Palestinians".

Councillors voted 37-36 in favour of the review motion. Crucially, in advance of that vote, it was stressed to members that a decision to review the pension policy would not prejudge any conclusion that that review might reach.

Cllr Brass says the abuse he has received since then focuses on the fact that he did not vote and an accusation that he stopped a councillor from speaking.

That is echoed in the latest petition, which says it was "nothing short of disgraceful" for the motion to be debated by the county council.

Cllr Brass said that he did not vote because the chairman "should be impartial" and that he allows councillors to speak for their allotted time.

"The whole thing is completely based on false information," he told the LDRS.

"[The emails] are saying things like I gave my vote to my vice chairman, which I can't do.

"And they've said I cut off one of the county councillors who was speaking because I didn't like what he said.

"But in fact I cut off everyone after three minutes because that's my job as chairman."

Cllr Brass, a Liberal Democrat who represents Bushey North division, believes the backlash is being whipped up by political adversaries who may be "taking pleasure in my discomfort".

He said: "There have been all sorts of nasty, horrible things.

"It's particularly harrowing for me because the reality of it is that it's mainly coming from the Jewish community, of which I am a member."

In response to "misinformation circulating online", HCC has taken the unprecedented step of issuing a statement "clarifying" events at the meeting.

It states that any petition which receives 1,000 or more signatures passes the threshold to be discussed at a meeting of the full council, which the Herts Palestine Support Coalition petition did.

The motion that was agreed by the council was: "The council requests the Pensions Committee to review Hertfordshire County Council's Responsible Investment Policy, and for this to be done at its earliest opportunity".

"For the avoidance of doubt", it states that the county council does not endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

And it clarifies that the Hertfordshire Local Government Pension Scheme has not divested from any company as a result of the petition.

It says the overriding duty of the fund is to pay the pensions of retired employees and the pensions committee has a fiduciary duty "to invest responsibly and in the best interest of pension scheme members".

In a statement to the LDRS, a spokesperson for the county council said: "We are clear that councillors and staff must be able to carry out their public duties without facing abuse or intimidation of any kind.

"We recognise there are strong views on this issue on all sides of the debate and respect people's right to express them, but this must never cross the line into misinformation or harassment."