Jeremy Corbyn is the "figurehead of an anti-Semitic political culture" and there are "no safe spaces" for British Jews within the Labour Party, a top community leader has warned.

An unprecedented protest by Jewish leaders, coordinated by the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, will take place outside Parliament on Monday, putting Mr Corbyn under renewed pressure over allegations of Jew hatred within Labour.

Jewish community leaders will also deliver a letter to Labour MPs in advance of their weekly meeting.

It comes as Mr Corbyn saw an apology for "pockets of anti-Semitism" within Labour rejected by Jewish groups.

The Labour leader said he was "sincerely sorry for the pain which has been caused", but has been told the "time for words is over".


Image: Protesters will gather in Parliament Square

Jonathan Goldstein, the chairman of the JLC, told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme: "We've reached the point as a community to say we've had enough of hearing Jeremy Corbyn opposes anti-Semitism whilst the mainstream majority of British Jews and their concerns are ignored by him and those he leads."

He added: "The time for words is over and I think the time for action is now important. The reality is that there are no safe spaces online or in meetings for Jewish people within the Labour Party.

"Wherever we go, we are told we act on the instructions of Israel, that Rothschilds run the world, that ISIS is a fake front for Israel, that Zionists are the new Nazis. I'm afraid that it's time for action rather than words."

Claiming Jewish leaders have been "ignored" by the Labour leadership since Mr Corbyn's election as party leader in 2015, Mr Goldstein continued: "This is the first time, in my lifetime, that the Jewish community has felt the need to take to the streets to campaign against the leader of a major political party.

"And, rightly or wrongly, Jeremy Corbyn is now the figurehead of an anti-Semitic political culture based upon obsessive hatred of Israel, conspiracy theories and fake news.

"That is doing great harm, not just to the Labour Party but to Britain in a wider sense."

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism has also told Mr Corbyn it is "too late" for an apology.

Image: The Labour leader faced questions over his apparent support for an anti-Semitic mural

The Labour leader declined to answer questions about anti-Semitism in Labour as he left his north London home on Monday.

Sky News understands Mr Corbyn wrote to the Board of Deputies on Monday to arrange a meeting, although he is not expected to attend their demonstration later.

In recent weeks, Mr Corbyn has faced questions over his past membership of a Facebook group in which anti-Semitic comments were made.

He has also apologised for previously expressing public support for an east London mural that had been ordered to be removed due to anti-Semitic imagery.

Mr Corbyn said he did not look "closely" at the image before commenting on it on Facebook.

On Monday, the Guido Fawkes website revealed the Labour leader is still a member of another Facebook group, titled "The Labour Party Supporter", in which members have blamed the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury on Israel or Islamic State.

In a joint open letter released on Sunday night, which appears to have prompted Mr Corbyn's apology, the JLC and Board of Deputies expressed concern there is "a repeated institutional failure to properly address Jewish concerns and to tackle anti-Semitism" within Labour.

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) expressed support for the actions of British Jewish leaders.

EJC president Moshe Kantor said: "It has been abundantly clear for too long that the Labour leadership under Jeremy Corbyn has at best a massive blind spot when it comes to antisemitism, and at worst openly encourages hatred and double-standards against Jews.

"Enough apologies, enough insipid justifications, enough excuses."

Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper, highlighted how the problem of anti-Semitism in Labour has emerged since Mr Corbyn's election in 2015.

He told Sky News: "It's been a consistent pattern of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership that even though he says he's got zero tolerance of anti-Semitism and all other forms of racism, when it comes to action, we're still waiting."

Join us tomorrow. Join in solidarity. Join us. pic.twitter.com/9sFRc1jXvV — JewishLabourMovement (@JewishLabour) March 25, 2018

The protest outside Parliament will come ahead of a weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), where Labour MPs may raise questions about Mr Corbyn's support for the mural.

The Labour leader is not expected to attend the meeting.

Backbench Labour MPs Liz Kendall and Wes Streeting have revealed they will be attending Monday's protest, while the Jewish Labour Movement have urged party members to "stand in solidarity" by joining the gathering outside Parliament.

Mr Streeting warned Mr Corbyn he will be "judged by his actions rather than his words" as he called for the Labour leader to tell those planning a counter-protest against the Jewish leaders' campaign on Monday that they do not act in his name.

He told Sky News: "We've got a big problem of anti-Semitism and I wish it was confined to pockets of anti-Semitism.

"I think the mealy-mouthed statements we've seen in recent days from Jeremy Corbyn are too little, too late.

"Jewish community organisations have repeatedly warned about the problem of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, as have Labour MPs and peers directly with Jeremy Corbyn.

"To have gotten to this point where Jewish community organisations are organising a protest against the Labour Party outside Parliament underpins the scale of the problem."

A truly terrible day when @BoardofDeputies & @JLC_uk feel the need to write such a letter. No one in @UKLabour should try & minimise or downplay this. I will be showing my solidarity in Parliament Square tomorrow. https://t.co/ynDw8GWhAY — Liz Kendall (@leicesterliz) March 25, 2018

Very powerful letter by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council on Labour anti-Semitism row. pic.twitter.com/RF83xuORyZ — Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) March 25, 2018

Meanwhile, a member of Mr Corbyn's shadow cabinet has urged him to attend the PLP meeting.

"I think if members of the PLP have concerns then obviously he should be encouraged to go along and address that," Valerie Vaz, shadow leader of the House of Commons, told the BBC.

In his apology, 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."

However, journalist Paul Mason - one of Mr Corbyn's strongest supporters - appeared to suggest "smears" are being directed at the Labour leader.

"It's a different smear each week but with one aim - to stop radical change + social justice," he wrote on Twitter.