The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister would present a crisis for the Jewish community, Jonathan Goldstein, the prospective new chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council said last night.

The Labour leader was “hostile” to the community and failed to understand antisemitism, he said.

At a hustings organised by the JLC, Mr Goldstein declared, “We as a community have been extremely fortunate in having a succession of prime ministers who have been extremely supportive of the community - without question.

“We are now living in an environment where we have a leader of the Opposition who does not recognise antisemitism, does not understand antisemitism.”

He went on, “We are now facing the possibility where we will have our first ever prime minister who is positively hostile in one form or other to the Jewish community.

“I think it is fair to say that should that occur, we would be a community in crisis.”

But in the event, he said, the community would “need to ensure that somehow or other we retain links with the Labour party”.

Adding that “we must not forget there are a significant number of members of the Labour party who remain our friends,” he mentioned Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who “only two days ago was the lead speaker… at our Yom Hashoah ceremony”.

While his manifesto stated that “there has never been a better time to be Jewish in Britain”, he observed in his address that these were “trying and tumultuous times for our country, for Europe and for the international community as a whole”.

Politics have become more polarised, demagoguery has replaced dialogue and extremes are becoming increasingly the norm, he said.

Calling for a JLC-led celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary next year, he said: “We have to unashamedly express our confidence and our support of Israel as loudly and as often as we can. I think we have to show the BDS [boycott] movement to be what it is, which is an antisemitic movement in another guise.”

Fear of being seen to take a political position had resulted in an “overly cautious” approach on Israel, he argued.

While Mr Goldstein, who chairs the JLC’s education division, Partnerships for Jewish Schools, is the sole candidate to succeed Sir Mick Davis next month, his chairmanship must still be approved by the JLC council next month.

He presented his manifesto at the first hustings of its kind organised by the JLC before some 50 representatives of organisations affiliated to the council.