An estimated 70 pro-Israel supporters gathered outside the Palestinian Mission in London on Tuesday evening to protest against the lack of condemnation for recent terrorist acts in Israel.

Communal groups including the Zionist Federation (ZF) and Board of Deputies organised the demonstration, which saw those present paying respect to the victims of attacks with a minute's silence.

A pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration attracted around 80 protesters.

Rival protesters accused each other of supporting terrorism but the mood remained subdued as around 30 police officers kept the sides a long way apart.
No arrests were reported.

ZF director Arieh Miller led chants of "Yes to peace, no to terror". He said: "Anyone opposing this protest must therefore be in support of terrorism."

He also clarified the meaning of the #IsraeliLivesMatter hashtag used to promote the demonstration. More than 140 members of the community had signed an open letter this week condemning it.

"We're here to say Israelis' lives matter, not more so than any others but equal to them, and that the cause for violence resistance from within the Palestinian leadership and around the world from groups including the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) has to end if there's going to be a peaceful solution."

Board vice-president Marie van der Zyl said the protest was about "defending the right of ordinary citizens to live in peace," and that the hashtag had been misunderstood.

She said: "The fact we want to protest against harming innocent Israelis doesn't mean we want anyone else to be hurt.

"The Board is going to have a policy of peaceful Muslim engagement and having a protest like this is peaceful, and it's important for the Board to be here."

She added that the current surge of violence in Israel was "very worrying" for British Jewry.

"Overall we are very privileged to live here, but when there are flare-ups in Israel there is a spike in antisemitism, and that's very worrying.

"It's really concerning. We've got to work together as a community to provide support in these difficult times."

Standing in front of signs reading "Peace not provocation" and "Racism does not equal resistance," Sussex Friends of Israel leader Simon Cobbs made a point echoed by many others.

"This is a demonstration against terror and stabbings. If people choose to counter that, if the opposite of pro is anti - are they for stabbings and terror?"