The launch of the French arm of J Call, the European Jewish Call to Reason, descended into chaos last week after 30 men from the Ligue de Defense Juive, a militant right-wing Jewish group, infiltrated the meeting.

The group attempted to drown out the speakers with boos and shouts until the police were called to escort the men out of the hall.

J Call, a dovish Zionist campaign group modelling itself on the American
J Street, launched as a movement at the European Parliament in May.

The lobby group describes itself as "committed to the state of Israel and critical of the current choices of its government".

Since the Brussels launch, branches have opened in Spain, Germany and Italy.

Wednesday's Paris meeting brought together a clutch of high-profile thinkers including philosopher Alain Finkielkraut, Green politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit, MEP Henri Weber and the Israeli novelist A B Yehoshua.

They reiterated their belief in the two-state solution and discussed the issues that face those who are working towards it - including Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, as Mr Yehoshua pointed out. The speakers spoke about their attachment to Israel.