Mr Watson, the deputy leader of Labour, said he could not attend a panel discussion on antisemitism and Labour because of “childcare commitments”.
His withdrawal came only five hours before the meeting was due to start.
Concern over whether Ms Chakrabarti might be tempted to follow suit was raised in the light of the fierce criticism she has received over her report into antisemitism in Labour and her subsequent acceptance of a peerage from party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The human rights campaigner has insisted that she did not knew she was going to receive the honour before she finished her investigation. On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, she declared there was nothing “transactional” about the offer.
The NWFoI event, entitled HARDtalk, will feature Ms Chakrabarti being interviewed by Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council. It will take place at King David High School and is expected to attract around 400 people.
Mr Dennison said that Ms Chakrabarti “has spoken to Simon Johnson to agree a format, and she has confirmed several times to us. I can’t wait.
“Given the feeling within the Jewish community, she’s actually quite courageous to go ahead and do it. I respect her for that.”
He did not think attendees would hold back with their questions, saying: “I think people have really strong views about her report, which - as many people including me have described it - was a total whitewash.
“It was totally disgraceful that they took into account the views of pro-Palestinian groups, and there was a total failure to comment on how anti-Zionism has become the modern day antisemitism.”
