The Zionist beliefs of Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition, are mired in confusion after the Labour Party leader — who is Jewish — said at a public meeting that he was a Zionist, only for his office then to deny he had said any such thing.

Labour peer Lord Ahmed has been suspended by the party after apparently claiming a Jewish conspiracy was responsible for his imprisonment for causing a fatal car crash.

He allegedly made the comments in an television interview in Pakistan in April last year.

Ed Miliband has pledged to protect Jewish customs including brit milah and shechita if he becomes Prime Minister.

Speaking at a Board of Deputies event the Labour leader said he was opposed to boycotts of Israel and warned of the need to be “ever-vigilant”against antisemitism.

A week and a half before Israelis go to the polls, the main opposition parties are still squabbling between themselves.

Labour, Kadima and Yesh Atid are proving themselves incapable of capitalising on the travails of Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu which, while remaining on track to form the next government, continues to lose seats to its right-wing rival.

Hendon has been pinpointed as a key battleground constituency by the Labour Party as Britain marks the halfway point between the 2010 and 2015 election.

The north London constituency was won by Conservative Matthew Offord at the last general election. Mr Offord triumphed over his rival, Andrew Dismore, by just 103 votes.

What a difference a year makes. Last September, Ed Miliband marked a definitive break with his party’s pro-Israel New Labour past by backing the Palestinian bid for an upgrade to their status at the United Nations. At the time this seemed precipitous and naive.

Labour MP Denis MacShane has resigned from Parliament after being found guilty by the Parliamentary standards committee of falsifying expenses. He was chair of the all-party Parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism.