Hannah Brady, the president of the Union of Jewish Students, has urged members to resist calls to cut ties with the National Union of Students.
Ms Brady said that it was by remaining in the NUS that Jewish students could properly hold its leaders to account.
Her comments came after anti-Zionist activist Malia Bouattia was voted in as NUS president at the union’s annual conference in Brighton this week.
Student campaigns seeking to disaffiliate with NUS have been launched at several universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, following Ms Bouattia’s election on Wednesday.
In an email headed “When times get tough, we dig our heels in deeper”, Ms Brady acknowledged that the conference had been a “trialling and disappointing” experience.
But she added: “Of course, it is understandable that some have called upon Jewish students and UJS to turn our back on NUS. But it's by staying here this week that we have firmly and loudly brought crucial passing of policy on antisemitism within the student movement to Conference floor. It's by staying here that we've seen NUS commit to dedicating time to strengthening Holocaust education. Above all, it's by staying that we can hold the leadership of NUS properly to account. Refusing to be invisible is the most important thing we have done this week.
“If there's anything that Jewish student leaders are teaching us now, it's that when times get tough, we dig our heels in deeper. We learn from the example of our forefathers, and we fight for a better future in which antisemitism does not exist for the next generation.”
In the run-up to the conference, Ms Bouattia had been criticised over her remarks about Zionists, including her description of Birmingham University, which has a large number of Jewish students, as a “Zionist outpost”.
An open letter signed by 45 Jewish society presidents during her election campaign raised questions about her “past rhetoric”.
In a statement published on Wednesday, immediately after the vote, the UJS said Jewish students were left facing a decision over whether to leave the NUS.
The statement said: “There is now a choice to be made. Jewish students need to decide whether NUS has gone too far for them to want to be involved, or whether now is the time to step up the fight from within. UJS will be consulting Jewish students in the near future and will continue to ensure that their interests are best represented.”
