Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis this week heaped further pressure on JNF UK by saying its chairman Samuel Hayek is “entirely wrong” to suggest the future of British Jewry is under threat as a result of Muslim immigration.

In a significant intervention, Rabbi Mirvis told Jewish News he believes Jews in the UK “are blessed to live in an overwhelmingly welcoming nation as one of the most vibrant, confident and contented Jewish communities in the world”.

And, pointedly, he also praised the support of the Muslim community, alongside that of “countless non-Jewish partners” in the fight against the “scourge of antisemitism” which he said sadly “continues to be an appalling blight upon British society”.