One of Israel’s chief rabbis called black people “monkeys” during his weekly sermon.

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s comments were denounced as ”racially charged” and “utterly unacceptable” by the Anti-Defamation League, a New York City-based organisation devoted to battling anti-Semitism and racism.

During his weekly sermon, the rabbi used a derogatory Hebrew term for a black person, before going on to call a black person a “monkey,” according to footage published by the Ynet news site.

His office said he was citing a passage from the Talmud - the book of Jewish law.

Mr Yosef represents Israel’s Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent.