Israel’s deputy Prime Minister has hinted that more European Jews should be making aliyah.

Silvan Shalom, who is also Interior Minister, made the comment while speaking at an ORT UK round-table lunch in London last Friday.

Reflecting on the 53 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents in the UK in the first half of this year, Mr Shalom told senior communal figures: “It is not for us to tell you what to do… of course Israel is always stronger when it has more Jews. When one million Jews from Russia arrived, it gave us a boost to our economy, our culture and our army.

“Now I’m trying, as Minister for Interior, to bring more than 7,000 Jews from Ethiopia; some from India and some who were forced to convert to Christianity from Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

“Why not? Even if they convert in some way, it’s very important to have them back.”

The comments were rebutted by UK-based billionaire Nathan Kirsh, who told Mr Shalom that the Israeli government should focus on strengthening diaspora Jewry.

Mr Shalom was also in the UK to open the London Stock Exchange, which he did on July 30.

During the visit, he met representatives of communal organisations and discussed the settlements with Foreign Office Minister Baroness Anelay. Mr Shalom said: “I told her, you are publishing statements condemning Israel and thousands of people are killed in Syria every day. She told me: ‘We talk about Syria. We expect more from you than we expect from them because you are a democracy.’ I didn’t want to be rude and tell her, we expect more from Britain than we expect from others.”

Mr Shalom, who is Israel’s chief negotiator with the Palestinians, said of previous peace talks: “Everything that was tried before failed because of the Palestinian side. But they believe it is because of the Israeli side.

“We are trying very hard to rebuild Gaza. We work with the Qataris... We are trying very hard, but as you say, it takes two to tango.”

He added: “We will never be able to end the conflict while Hamas is there — their charter is very clear, saying that Israel has no right to exist and the territory belongs to the Muslims.”

Mr Shalom went on to condemn the Iran deal and boycott movement. But, he said, the perception of the settlements differed between Israelis and the international community.

He said: “Many Israelis believe that it is our right to build, that it belongs to us, that it does not violate international law.”

On US Secretary of State John Kerry’s tour of the Middle East, Mr Shalom said: “He is not going to visit Israel. When asked, they said they didn’t need to go there because Secretary Kerry had long discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu on the phone. He doesn’t need to go there because he knows the Israeli concerns.”