A leading United Synagogue has cancelled a talk tomorrow night by a controversial Israeli academic.

Dr Mordechai Kedar, of Bar-Ilan University, who is here on a speaking tour organised by the Zionist Federation, was due to speak at Finchley United Synagogue.

The ZF previously called off his scheduled talks at three Jewish schools after complaints about his links with American anti-Islamist activist Pamela Geller, who was banned from Britain last year.

Finchley congregants were notified that Dr Kedar’s appearance had been cancelled. No explanation was given.

Political scientist Michael Pinto-Duschinsky said that Dr Kedar’s presence in the UK would be “toxic for interfaith relations”.

But ZF chairman Paul Charney said that there had been “a concerted effort to smear the reputation” of Dr Kedar who was an “expert in the Islamic and Arabic worlds”.