A Jewish activist group has said it will issue legal proceedings against Leicester City Council over the local authority’s boycott of Israeli products.

The council approved a motion to boycott goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank in November, with councillors likening Israel to apartheid South Africa.

Jonathan Neumann, director of Jewish Human Rights Watch - formed in February to counter antisemitism - announced on Thursday that he would call for a judicial review “to have their motion quashed”.

Standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Mr Neumann compared the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement to Nazi Germany, calling the council’s decision “a boycott of Jews”.

During a 10-minute speech broadcast online, Mr Neumann explained that “because the council refused to engage with us, we’re here.

“I call upon the court to side with human decency, to protect vulnerable minorities and above all, to support the law.”