The World Jewish Congress has honoured Lord Weidenfeld with its prestigious Theodor Herzl Award.

The peer received the accolade at a gala dinner at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on Tuesday.

The award recognises those who work to carry forward Herzl’s ideals for a safer, more tolerant world for the Jewish people.

Herzl was one of the founding fathers of modern Zionism.

WJC president Ronald Lauder presented the 95-year old statesman, scholar and publisher with the honour.

Mr Lauder said: “There are some people in our world – just a few – who have the courage and the temerity to speak out when they see injustice. George Weidenfeld is one of these rare men.”

He recalled his work with Lord Weidenfeld to expose former UN Secretary General and former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim’s Nazi past, as well as his “constant efforts on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.”

Lord Weidenfeld was born in Vienna in 1919 and emigrated to London following Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938.

He was knighted in 1969 and was created a life peer in 1976.

Previous recipients of the Theodor Herzl Award include former Israeli president Shimon Peres, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and, posthumously, President Ronald Reagan.