Jewish groups condemn Tommy Robinson after he attends pro-Israel march

Jewish community groups have denounced the anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson after he appeared at a pro-Israel rally in central London on Sunday.

The former English Defence League leader, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, joined a demonstration organised to support Israel holding a placard which said “Free Gaza from Hamas”.

The rally’s organisers, the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, said they could not control who turned up at their public events but tweeted “any & all supporters of extremism are never welcome”.

Several hundred people joined the rally outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington on Sunday afternoon, which aimed to show solidarity with Israel following its recent conflict in Gaza.

The Zionist Federation said in an earlier statement it had organised the demonstration to “publicly demonstrate their support for peace in the Middle East as well as Israel’s inalienable right to defend itself and its citizens”.

“All supporters of Israel are welcome, but attendees found to be supporting any kind of extremist agenda will be removed by the organisers.”

The Federation’s chairman, Paul Charney, said it was crucial British Zionists “come out in force” to not only show Israel support but also demonstrate they were not cowed by reports of antisemitism by some taking part in pro-Palestinians protests in recent weeks.

There has been a rise in antisemitic incidents since violence flared up again between Hamas and Israel earlier this month. The most notorious case saw four men arrested after a convoy of cars bearing Palestinian flags were driven through a Jewish neighbourhood in North London while passengers chanted: “F*** their mothers. Rape their daughters. We have to send a message”.

However, many Jewish groups were quick to emphasise they opposed Islamophobia among Zionists as much as antisemitism among the pro-Palestine movement.

Robinson, who has a number of convictions for violence and public order offences, focuses most of his activism against Islam.

In 2019 he was sentenced to nine months in prison for contempt of court, after he almost caused the trial of a grooming gang to collapse by breaching reporting restrictions in a livestream outside the court.

Britain’s largest Jewish advocacy group, the Board of Deputies, also tweeted its own condemnation of Robinson after a video of him at the pro-Israel rally circulated online.

“Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) & supporters of far-right extremist organisations like the English Defence League are not welcome at our community’s events.

“Their message of hate and division must be confronted and defeated. We utterly reject their bigotry.”

The Jewish Leadership Council also added its own denouncement of Robinson: “Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or Tommy Robinson as he likes to be called was not invited today. Nor was he in any way welcome. We do not want his ‘support’ and we ask him to stay away from future events. Today is about supporting Israel, not spreading hate.”

A ceasefire was agreed between Hamas and Israel last week, after several weeks of retaliatory bombardment had left hundreds of Palestinians killed in Gaza and 12 dead in Israel.