Jews and Muslims involved in interfaith work have differing ideas about discussing Israel in their dialogue groups.

In Manchester, Lucille Cohen, the new president of the Manchester Jewish Representative Council, has said that on the whole she believes that "if it's appropriate, leave Israel on the side".

Mrs Cohen, the former president of the Zionist Central Council, is also involved with the Altrincham Interfaith Group.

If a Knesset member has her way, Israel will soon follow in Belgium's footsteps and ban the burka.

Last month, Belgium's lower house of parliament backed a bill to ban face-covering clothing in public. Now, Kadima's Marina Solodkin has resolved to introduce similar legislation to the Knesset, directed at Muslim women and members of a tiny Charedi cult in Beit Shemesh who have begun covering their faces.

For precedent she does not cite the Belgians but a political force rarely held up in Israel as an inspiration - the Soviets.

Former Hendon MP Andrew Dismore has rejected claims that an initiative by a Muslim organisation which campaigns against candidates who back Israel cost him his seat.

Mr Dismore, who had held the constituency for Labour since 1997, was defeated by Conservative candidate Matthew Offord by just 106 votes, the second narrowest margin in England.

On its website, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) claimed it had "defeated the top ranking Zionist MP Dismore!".

A Muslim organisation which campaigns against candidates who support Israel has been reported to the equalities watchdog for intimidating behaviour.

The Community Security Trust raised its concerns about the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) in a meeting with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission before the election, and received an assurance that its activities would be closely monitored. Such has been the intensity of the MPAC campaign that the CST decided to take up the issue with the EHRC as soon as the polls closed.

One of Iraq’s leading clerics, Ayatollah Shaykh Ayad al-Rikabi, has denounced the proposed conversion of the ancient tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel into an Islamic site.

Iraq’s Department of Antiquities and the Iraqi Shi’i “waqf”, which controls religious heritage sites in the country, has stated that the historic tomb does not belong to Iraq’s dwindling Jewish community.

It asserted that since Ezekiel is described in the Koran as a Muslim, the tomb should be declared an Islamic site. Plans are now under way to turn the site into a mosque.

Plans to install giant “headscarf” arches in Brick Lane, the heart of the old East End Jewish community, have been scrapped just hours before councillors were due to make a decision.

The arches, labelled “hijab gates”, attracted wide criticism from local Jews as well as Muslims, heritage organisations and artist, Tracey Emin, who lives near Brick Lane.

They were part of a £1.85million “culture trail” proposed by Tower Hamlets council to “reflect the many cultural backgrounds that have occupied and sought refuge” in and around Brick Lane.

A Labour MP has accused the government of putting the lives of Yemeni Jews at risk by not doing enough to save them from al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists.

A year ago, London's strictly Orthodox community worked with Immigration Minister Phil Woolas in the hope that 120 Yemenis could move to Stamford Hill, north London.

The Home Office was expected to agree to allow them to settle in Britain, but the move never happened. Now Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, has stepped in and demanded that they reconsider.