LOS ANGELES — A county human rights board has reaffirmed, albeit tepidly, its decision to grant an award to a Muslim prayer leader who described Hezbollah as freedom fighters and referred to Israel as an apartheid regime.

The proposal to honor Dr. Maher Hathout of the Islamic Center of Southern California garnered only four votes from the 10 members of the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations on hand for yesterday’s meeting. However, five commissioners abstained, allowing the presentation of the award for “excellence in human relations” to Dr. Hathout at a commission luncheon next month.

The vote came after Dr. Hathout, 70, expressed regret for the intemperate language he used in some of his anti-Israel speeches. Still, he did not repudiate the substance of his comments.

“I regret the harshness of my remarks, but I stand by my right” to criticize Israel, Dr. Hathout told the commission. “This has nothing to do with L.A. County human relations.”

At a rally near the White House in 2000, Dr.Hathout repeatedly described Israel as a “racist apartheid” state. “Butchers do what butchers do,” he declared.

Dr. Hathout also called for a “general intifada” against Arab governments that participated in summits where peace with Israel was debated. He warned that the rulers of those Muslim countries “will be flushed down in the cesspools of history of treason.”

At an event in Washington in 1998, Dr. Hathout defended Hezbollah “as fighting only for freedom” and said the group attacked only legitimate military targets.

The commission’s announcement in August that it planned to honor Dr. Hathout triggered a firestorm of criticism and debate that included dueling radio advertisements. An ad aired last week by an advocacy group Dr. Hathout advises, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, accused the Zionist Organization of America and the American Jewish Committee of smearing the reputations and religion of Muslims. The ad, narrated by an actor best known for his role on “M*A*S*H,” Mike Farrell, also accused Dr. Hathout’s critics of opposing free speech.

A pro-Israel group, Stand With Us, responded with ads calling the Muslim group’s statements “dishonest and counter-productive.”

One member of the panel, Donna Bojarsky, suggested a compromise yesterday under which Dr. Hathout would be invited to be the keynote speaker at the commission’s lunch but would not be bestowed with an award.

Ms. Bojarsky, who identified herself as a Jewish child of Holocaust survivors, said she was impressed with Dr. Hathout’s work in the community but was troubled by some of his remarks. “This award, I feel, has become tainted,” she said.

Another commission member suggested that Dr. Hathout withdraw in order to strengthen community ties. He declined.

Leaders of many Jewish groups expressed dismay at the commission’s action.

“It’s a disgrace,” Ed Ames of the Zionist Organization of America said. He said Dr. Hathout’s group, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, “is riddled with jihadists.”

“They call themselves moderate, middle-of-the-road Muslims. They’re not,” he said.

“This commission has been diminished by this procedure and the award is now meaningless,” the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Jewish Committee, Sherry Weinman, said.

An official with the American Jewish Congress, Allyson Taylor, said she believed that the commissioners were intimidated.

“Their fear was that Muslim rioting would have started,” Ms. Taylor said.

A meeting dealing with Dr. Hathout’s award last week drew an overflow crowd. Yesterday afternoon’s session drew about 200 people, many of whom delivered impassioned speeches for or against the award.

The atmosphere in the room was tense and the president of the commission, Adrian Dove, often had difficulty keeping order. Many members of the audience hissed or snickered in response to comments made by others. One man was removed from the hall after he began shouting that Dr. Hathout had issued a religious edict of death, or fatwa, against him.

Many of Dr. Hathout’s supporters wore stickers denouncing McCarthyism and supporting free speech. However, nearly every person who spoke out against recognizing Dr. Hathout also defended his right to criticize Israel.

“As an American, he has every right to say what he says,” Marsha Roseman said. “I don’t believe he should get an award for it.”

A Jewish author and columnist who has met repeatedly with Dr. Hathout, Jonathan Dobrer, said the award was a mistake in light of the Muslim leader’s inflammatory comments to Arab audiences. “I didn’t recognize the man I’d been in dialogue with,” Mr. Dobrer said. “It was a sense of, really, personal betrayal.”

A Jewish man who spoke out in favor of Dr. Hathout, Dan Wolf, said the Muslim leader was one of only two guests from outside the family invited to attend the funeral of a prominent rabbi who was Mr. Wolf’s father, Alfred Wolf.

A rabbi from a reform congregation in Santa Monica, Neil Comess-Daniels, also praised Dr. Hathout’s interfaith work. “Our work is not done and, in no small way, Dr. Hathout is part of that work,” Rabbi Comess-Daniels said.

Dr. Hathout insisted yesterday that he has never supported Hamas or Hezbollah and has denounced terrorist activities, including the firing of indiscriminant missiles into Israel.

At one point yesterday, Dr. Hathout told the commission that he might return the award, if the panel granted it to him.

However, he told reporters after the meeting that he planned to hang onto the award, which is named for a former executive director of the county panel, John Allen Buggs. “I’m cherishing this award and keeping it,” he said.

Asked about the numerous abstentions, Dr. Hathout said, “At the end of the day, the vote is for me. I am happy about that.”

The Muslim leader also said he was “extending his hand” to those who criticized him. He said he understood the sensitivities of the Jews who were offended by his prior remarks, but would not censor himself to please his opponents. “Dialogue should not just be an exchange of niceties,” Dr. Hathout said.

There is little dispute that Dr. Hathout has been widely recognized as part of the mainstream of the American Muslim community. Two weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Dr. Hathout joined a White House discussion with President Bush.

In 2000, Dr. Hathout also delivered an invocation opening one day’s session of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

The commission’s chairman, Mr. Dove, said in an interview that he favored a compromise and was puzzled by the actions of some of his colleagues. “Some people changed their minds in the course of the meeting and kind of sprung a surprise,” he said.