Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with anti-Semites "again and again".

The extraordinary open letter comes as Jewish leaders plan a protest in Parliament Square tonight ahead of a meeting of Labour MPs - which Mr Corbyn does not plan to attend.

Jewish supporters of Jeremy Corbyn now plan a counter-protest branding his critics "Tories" gripped by "hysteria" and saying the timing of the attack "can't be a coincidence."

A row exploded when it emerged Jeremy Corbyn had argued against the removal of an anti-Semitic mural of 'Illuminati' financiers playing Monopoly on the backs of the poor.

Last night he said he was "sincerely sorry" for the pain caused by "pockets" of anti-Semitism in Labour. However, he has not said sorry for his actions personally.

Mr Corbyn said his 2012 comment was about free speech, he had not looked at the mural properly, and that on second glance it was clearly anti-Semitic and it was right to remove it.

But in today's letter, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council point the finger at Mr Corbyn personally.

Scroll down for the full text of the letter

(Image: BBC)

(Image: BBC)

Jewish Voice for Labour blasts the Board of Deputies for “hysteria about anti-Semitism”

They write: "Jeremy Corbyn did not invent this form of politics, but he has had a lifetime within it, and now personifies its problems and dangers.

"He issues empty statements about opposing antisemitism, but does nothing to understand or address it.

"We conclude that he cannot seriously contemplate antisemitism, because he is so ideologically fixed within a far left worldview that is instinctively hostile to mainstream Jewish communities."

The leaders said Mr Corbyn is "repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti-Semitic views" but "claims never to hear or read them".

They added: "Raed Salah says Jews kill Christian children to drink their blood.

"Corbyn opposes his extradition and invites him for tea at the House of Commons."

Tom Watson confronted on live TV with 'horrible' antisemitic mural

Another Jewish group that supports Jeremy Corbyn is due to attend a counter-rally outside Parliament tonight to stand by him.

Naomi Wimbourne-Idrissi of Jewish Voice for Labour blasted the Board of Deputies for “hysteria about anti-Semitism” which "does nothing to help real genuine campaigning against anti-Semitism along with other forms of racism".

She claimed the timing of the “clearly political attack… can’t be a coincidence” and branded the critics “Tories”.

"It can’t be a coincidence that it comes after a wave of assaults of him over Brexit policy,” she told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

"And it can’t be a coincidence that it’s happening just as we get into the important stages of campaigning towards the municipal elections."

Told the Board of Deputies denied this, she said: “Of course they would."

She added: “What we’ve really got here is the culmination of more than two years of a vicious and unprincipled attack on Jeremy because he’s a sincere and genuine socialist who supports justice for Palestine.

So you have people like the Board of Deputies who are not Labour, they’re Tories, their supporters are sometimes far worse than Tories, far right Zionists, no interest in the soul of the Labour Party at all.”

She added: “They’ll never be satisfied… They want to drive out everybody who is supportive of the Palestinian people."

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

But the Board of Deputies letter says: "Today, leaders of British Jewry tell Jeremy Corbyn that enough is enough."

They add: "Again and again, Jeremy Corbyn has sided with anti-Semites rather than Jews.

"At best, this derives from the far left's obsessive hatred of Zionism, Zionists and Israel.

"At worst, it suggests a conspiratorial worldview in which mainstream Jewish communities are believed to be a hostile entity, a class enemy."

The Labour leader did not make any reference to the criticism aimed at him personally in his statement.

But in a message aimed at building bridges with the Jewish community he acknowledged that Labour must demonstrate a "total commitment to excising pockets of anti-Semitism that exist in and around our party".

The Labour leader said he would meet representatives from the Jewish community over the coming days.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Mr Corbyn said: "Labour is an anti-racist party and I utterly condemn anti-Semitism, which is why as leader of the Labour Party I want to be clear that I will not tolerate any form of anti-Semitism that exists in and around our movement. We must stamp this out from our party and movement.

"We recognise that anti-Semitism has occurred in pockets within the Labour Party, causing pain and hurt to our Jewish community in the Labour Party and the rest of the country.

"I am sincerely sorry for the pain which has been caused."

Labour MPs Ian Austin and Wes Streeting said they were "ashamed" of the way the party's relationship with the Jewish community had deteriorated.

Former Cabinet minister Yvette Cooper said Mr Corbyn should apologise for his own actions.

She told Channel 4 News: "I think that it would be right for Jeremy to give a full apology for the comments that he made."

The letter in full

This is the full text of the open letter from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council:

Today, leaders of British Jewry tell Jeremy Corbyn that enough is enough. We have had enough of hearing that Jeremy Corbyn "opposes anti-Semitism", whilst the mainstream majority of British Jews, and their concerns, are ignored by him and those he leads.

There is a repeated institutional failure to properly address Jewish concerns and to tackle anti-Semitism, with the Chakrabarti Report being the most glaring example of this.

Jeremy Corbyn did not invent this form of politics, but he has had a lifetime within it, and now personifies its problems and dangers. He issues empty statements about opposing anti-Semitism, but does nothing to understand or address it.

We conclude that he cannot seriously contemplate anti-Semitism, because he is so ideologically fixed within a far left worldview that is instinctively hostile to mainstream Jewish communities.

When Jews complain about an obviously anti-Semitic mural in Tower Hamlets, Corbyn of course supports the artist. Hezbollah commits terrorist atrocities against Jews, but Corbyn calls them his friends and attends pro-Hezbollah rallies in London. Exactly the same goes for Hamas.

Raed Salah says Jews kill Christian children to drink their blood. Corbyn opposes his extradition and invites him for tea at the House of Commons. These are not the only cases. He is repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti-Semitic views, but claims never to hear or read them.

Again and again, Jeremy Corbyn has sided with anti-Semites rather than Jews. At best, this derives from the far left's obsessive hatred of Zionism, Zionists and Israel. At worst, it suggests a conspiratorial worldview in which mainstream Jewish communities are believed to be a hostile entity, a class enemy.

When Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party, Jews expressed sincere and profound fears as to how such politics would impact upon their wellbeing. Our concerns were never taken seriously. Three years on, the party and British Jews are reaping the consequences.

Routine statements against anti-Semitism "and all forms of racism" get nowhere near dealing with the problem, because what distinguishes anti-Semitism from other forms of racism is the power that Jews are alleged to hold, and how they are charged with conspiring together against what is good.

This is not only historic, or about what Jeremy Corbyn did before being party leader. It is also utterly contemporary. There is literally not a single day in which Labour Party spaces, either online or in meetings, do not repeat the same fundamental anti-Semitic slanders against Jews.

We are told that our concerns are faked, and done at the command of Israel and/or Zionism (whatever that means); that anti-Semitism is merely "criticism of Israel"; that we call any and all criticism of Israel "anti-Semitic"; that the Rothschilds run the world; that ISIS terrorism is a fake front for Israel; that Zionists are the new Nazis; and that Zionists collaborate with Nazis.

Rightly or wrongly, those who push this offensive material regard Jeremy Corbyn as their figurehead. They display an obsessive hatred of Israel alongside conspiracy theories and fake news. These repeated actions do serious harm to British Jews and to the British Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn is the only person with the standing to demand that all of this stops. Enough is enough.