Addressing the 100 guests at the Leeds UJIA Women's Division appeal lunch, chair Norma Collins highlighted the poverty in the Galil, the area UJIA focuses its work in.

"If one is born in the Galil, one's life opportunities are far worse than if one is born in the centre of Israel," she said. Forty-five per cent of children lived below the poverty line.

"One can love Israel deeply without being blind to its flaws," two of which were poverty and inequality. "If we are to bring opportunity there, we must believe it starts with education. We are living at a very special moment in Jewish history. We can make a difference."

Mail journalist Liz Jones was the guest speaker and the lunch raised £17,000.