Local councils are facing legal action at the High Court over their decisions to impose boycotts on Israeli goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Jewish Human Rights Watch (JHRW) is seeking judicial review against three authorities - Leicester City Council, Swansea City Council and Gwynedd Council.

The campaign group is expected to ask Lord Justice Simon and Mr Justice Flaux, sitting in London, to rule the "anti-Semitic" boycotts unlawful because they breach the Local Government Act 1988 and the Equality Act 2010.

The organisaton has likened the "divisive" town hall action to the boycott of Jewish shops in 1930s Nazi Germany.

But the charity War on Want has condemned the JHRW legal challenge as "shameful".

Senior campaigner Ryvka Barnard said: "It's shameful that local councils are being attacked for ensuring their policies are in line with international and UK law.

"The illegal settlements are a part of the systematic abuses of international law and human rights committed by Israel against the Palestinians."

The Government is issuing new guidance to public authorities warning such bans are "inappropriate" unless formal legal sanctions or embargoes have been put in place by the Government itself.

The Cabinet Office says boycotts could "undermine good community relations, poison and polarise debate, weaken integration and fuel anti-Semitism".

At the same time they could hinder the UK's export trade and harm international relationships, say ministers.

But Ms Barnard said: "The UK Government has reiterated over and over again that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal, and has issued advice to businesses on the risks of investing in or trading with illegal settlements."

The Labour-led Leicester council approved its motion in favour of a boycott in 2014.

Sarkozy: Boycotting Israel is unacceptable

The council has stated: "The motion has never been a boycott of Israel by Leicester and is not an attack on the Jewish people. It relates specifically to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank."

A Swansea council spokesman said: "The council has never boycotted Israeli goods and has no intention of doing so. For legal reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Gwynedd Council made clear that its own boycott was aimed at condemning the "attacks by the Israeli state on the territory of the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip".

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Youths attend the funeral of Ahmad Sharake who was shot during clashes with Israeli forces in Jelazun refugee camp, near Ramallah, West Bank. Tensions in the area continue to run high following a series of stabbing attacks that have occurred around Israel in clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces Getty Images The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child

It also said: "It must be made clear that the proposal condemned the Israeli state and not the Jewish religion."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described the Government's new guidance as "an attack on local democracy".

His spokesman said: "People have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control.

"That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds.

"This Government's ban would have outlawed council action against Apartheid South Africa. Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice they're imposing Conservative party policies on elected local councils across the board."