Event on hold after two largest Jewish organisations – which are meeting Corbyn on Tuesday – said they would not attend

A roundtable meeting between Jeremy Corbyn and a range of Jewish groups to discuss antisemitism in Labour and other issues has been postponed, reportedly because of concerns about the planned participation of one group.

The Labour leader will still hold a planned meeting on Tuesday with the two largest organisations, the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), as part of efforts to tackle antisemitism.



However, a larger roundtable involving more groups, scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed, after the BoD and JLC announced they would not be participating.

It is understood that one of the reasons was disquiet within the BoD and JLC that among the groups invited to Wednesday’s event was Jewish Voice for Labour, which has downplayed the issue of antisemitism in the party. Last month it organised a counter-demonstration to the “enough is enough” protest against antisemitism in Labour outside parliament.

The groups also felt the purpose of the second event was vague, and would not add anything to the direct talks the day before.

A source in Corbyn’s office said the Wednesday meeting had been postponed rather than cancelled, and that as well as the event with the BoD and JLC, more meetings were planned for the coming weeks.

Earlier this month Corbyn wrote to the heads of the BoD and JLC to suggest a meeting “without preconditions” to look at efforts to tackle antisemitism.

Corbyn said he accepted the organisations’ agenda for a meeting. “I place no limitations on the points you would wish to raise and am happy for the agenda to cover the issues you’ve already outlined,” he wrote.



“I appreciate and understand the anger you express and reiterate my determination to fight antisemitism within the Labour party and society at large … I recommit to doing all I can to address the anguish and distress caused to many people in the Jewish community.”

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Last week, the two groups issued a joint statement saying they remained committed to meeting with Corbyn and Labour’s new general secretary, Jennie Formby, “to discuss a set of specific actions, which we have already proposed and published, and which can help the Labour party tackle its antisemitism problem”.

The statement added: “We therefore see no reason for us to attend the ‘roundtable’ meeting on the following day, which the Labour party has arranged and which does not have an agenda for action.

“We urge other Jewish communal organisations to follow our lead, and to focus on how Mr Corbyn and Ms Formby respond to the concrete actions that we have proposed.”

The JLC acts as an umbrella organisation for major British Jewish institutions, including the United Synagogue, the main organisation for orthodox synagogues, as well as the progressive Liberal Judaism and the Movement for Reform Judaism. It also has representation from major Jewish charities and some pro-Israel organisations.



The BoD is an elected Jewish communal body made up of 300 deputies elected by synagogue memberships across the country, as well as other organisations including the Union of Jewish Students. Deputies then elect its president and vice-presidents.