A new education centre in the north of Israel is to be named after the former Labour MP and ex-president of the Board of Deputies, Lord Janner.

Israel's ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub, and members of the UJIA recommended the veteran Labour peer, now 84, for the honour in recognition of his work promoting understanding between people of different faiths.

In a letter to Lord Janner, Mr Taub said: "This is a mark of our tremendous gratitude and appreciation for all you have achieved in the course of your long and devoted service to the Jewish state."

The Lord Janner Education Centre in Ma'alot Tarshiha, northern Galilee, will focus on teaching young children from different backgrounds lessons that promote tolerance and cultural diversity. The township is one of the areas supported by the UJIA in Britain.

Its mayor, Shlomo Buhbut, said: "We are proud to acknowledge and to publicise the significant and important contribution of Lord Janner to the state of Israel and to the Jewish people."

Mick Davis, chairman of the UJIA, was instrumental in recommending Lord Janner for the honour and said: "There is no measure great enough to value the contribution that my dear friend Greville Janner has made to the Jewish community of Great Britain, the Jewish communities of the Commonwealth and to the building of the modern state of Israel."

Lord Janner said he was "delighted and very proud to receive this wonderful honour."

Among the many organisations with which he has been involved is the Coexistence Trust which he co-founded with Jordan's Prince Hassan, to help governments combat racial and religious intolerance, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.