The British Reform movement has criticised a controversial bill before the Knesset which seeks to reinforce Israel's Jewish character.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed the planned Nationality Law, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has forced a postponement of the vote due to have taken place on Sunday. Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) leader Naftali Bennett said he would leave the coalition if the bill was not supported.

In a statement this week, the Movement for Reform Judaism said that the proposals "appear to be an attempt to supersede existing law guaranteeing the equality of all citizens.

"In the interest of securing a future for Israel that is Jewish, pluralist, democratic and just, we call for this new law to be withdrawn before it is enacted."

A warning about its potential adverse impact has also come from Avinoam Bar-Yosef, president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, an Israeli think-tank that has consulted diaspora communities, including British Jewry, on the issue.

The bill, Mr Bar-Yosef said, "may break the balance between the Jewish and democratic character of the state.

"Our research showed that, according to diaspora Jewry, such a bill may stain Israel in the eyes of the free world and, worse, distance Jews who are among the supporters of Israel."