Former Middle East Minister Alastair Burt has praised the work of poverty-fighting charity Meir Panim and its British branch Manna at a House of Commons reception.

"You have to reach beyond politics and I think Manna is a way of doing that," Mr Burt said. "Because of political polarisation, people who have a lot in common are divided and charities like Manna manage to push away the extremists on either side."

Mr Burt was among MPs at the sell-out event, where Meir Panim's bridge-building was also hailed by deputy Israeli ambassador Eitan Na'eh. "It's hard to believe today that you can still have personal relations which cross the barrier between Arabs and Jews," he said.