Westminster Council will bring "deep internatonal shame" on itself if it rejects the proposed Holocaust Memorial next to parliament, the Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl has said.
She was speaking after it was reported that the council leader had said the troubled project was on course to be rejected amid opposition from conservation and environmental groups.
The plan to build the memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Park Gardens has suffered setbacks despite huge political support, as campaigners objected to the memorial's impact on the park.
The architects had to submit scaled-down plans in the face of objections earlier this year.
On Thursday, the Jewish News revealed council leader Nickie Aiken wrote to Lord Pickles and Ed Balls, the co-chairs of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, to castigate their handling of the opposition to the project.
They had written to her attacking council officers for placing too much weight on the number of objections.
She wrote: "Given this range of issues, it was advised that the application was heading towards an unfavourable recommendation. It is difficult to see how your advisors were able to give you the impression that it was the number of objections was the primary concern, given the breadth of the other matters discussed."
After Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said the project had the Government's "unshakeable" support, Mrs van der Zyl issued a statement, saying: “At a time when antisemitic incidents are at an all-time high, rejecting this vital memorial to Holocaust victims would send entirely the wrong signal to society.
"Secretary of State Robert Jenrick is right to warn Westminster Council against a calamitous decision that would bring deep international shame on them.
"We urge anyone thinking of objecting to this project of huge significance to our country, our community and the victims of the evil, Nazi genocide to think again."
A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: “The Leader of the Council, Cllr Nickie Aiken, has responded to the concerns raised in the letter and made very clear that this application, like all that come before the authority, will be made on planning grounds after careful assessment of all the representations received. No decision has been taken.”
