A rabbi who exposes secret Jewish worshippers of Jesus is suing the wife of former Prime Minister Yair Lapid in a legal battle over a claim that she is a messianic Jew.

Lihi Lapid initially sued Rabbi Tovia Singer for £190,000, alleging a video he made containing the claim she was a believer in Jesus was “misleading” and a “baseless conspiracy.”

Now his solicitor says he is counter-suing her for £72,000, claiming she is on a “crusade” against him, and that she made “defamatory statements” against him.

The rabbi’s video detailed how Chaim Malespin, the head of an organisation called the Aliyah Return Centre, had described Lihi Lapid as “a confirmed believer” when addressing an audience of Christian Zionists in Arizona, USA.

Malespin withdrew the claim several months later after the video went viral and Mrs Lapid’s spokesperson branded it “a lie”.

Rabbi Singer’s video, entitled “Shocker! Is the Wife of Israel's Prime Minister a Christian? Rabbi Tovia Singer Responds,” described Malespin as “one of the most influential missionary leaders” in Israel, adding that “he knows the Lapids, he’s very close to the president of Israel.”

Singer’s video included footage of Malespin’s initial allegation and also his retraction, followed by an explanation of why the rabbi considered the question of Mrs Lapid’s beliefs to be important politically.

He added that Lihi Lapid’s sister is “absolutely for sure a Messianic Christian, and her husband is a Messianic leader… the question is about the Prime Minister’s wife… The consequences for a Prime Minister’s wife being messianic are mind blowing.”

Mrs Lapid’s spokesman says that Malespin’s initial video has been deleted and an apology was issued, adding that she had requested others should delete the video, too. “The majority did so and apologised for any offence caused. Mr Singer is the exception to that and has insisted on continuing his campaign against Mrs Lapid despite knowing the truth” the spokesman added.

But Rabbi Singer stands by his video statement. “I don’t know whether Malespin lied when he claimed she believes in Jesus, or whether he lied later, when he appeared to take it back,” he said.

Rabbi Singer has suggested Mrs Lapid should publicly state she does not believe in Jesus as the Messiah “in order to put Malespin’s claim to rest” and that he would correct his video if he has evidence he was wrong.

“I will publicly admit it. My reporting was not mistaken in this case,” he said.

Furthermore, the rabbi maintains he never stated Mrs Lapid believes in Jesus: “She hasn’t made any public statements either way, and I don’t know Lihi Lapid well enough to know what her beliefs are beyond her public statements.”

In an Instagram post, Mrs Lapid initially claimed Rabbi Singer had “realised his mistake” and would “issue an apology,” maintaining that he had already apologised to her. But Rabbi Singer told the JC this week that he has never spoken with her, and did not agree to apologise: “Any claim to the contrary is a lie and defamatory.”

Her Instagram statement said that her Judaism and Zionism were her “identity” and “a pulsating and active part of my life, starting from the family Kiddush every week with challah on the table, through the holidays to being a proud mother whose son enlists in the army to protect the country.”

Rabbi Singer’s lawyer maintains that his client was reporting what had happened, and included both Malespin’s allegation and his retraction in the rabbi’s video. He now intends to submit a motion to the court to add Chaim Malespin as a third party to the case, believing he should be liable for any damages the rabbi is accused of.

Chaim Malespin declined to comment.