Elements of the Labour Party leadership in Britain are antisemitic, a senior Israeli minister has claimed.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s public security minister, said there were concerns among his country’s government about the views of senior Labour figures.

He told a conference in Brussels today: “We recognise and we see that there are antisemitic views in many of the leadership of the current Labour Party. We hope it will be changed. The views.”

In a thinly-veiled reference to Jeremy Corbyn’s past comments about Hamas, Mr Erdan added that Israel hoped Labour would “come to the right decisions about people in their party who don’t understand that Hamas is a recognised terror organisation, that you cannot have a regular relationship with a terror organisation”.

Mr Erdan was pushed on whether he believed Mr Corbyn was antisemitic, but added: “I didn’t say it. I said there are views that are very close to antisemitism in the leadership of the Labour Party today in the UK.”

He also attacked the party’s inquiry into Jew-hate and other forms of racism, conducted by Baroness Chakrabarti last year, calling it “empty”.

Mr Erdan said: “We don’t think this committee was enough. We still follow and listen to their views and we are concerned that it will lead, it will bring, the UK to a very, very negative place. Still we are optimistic.”

In response to the comments, a Labour spokesman said: “Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party campaign against and condemn all forms of antisemitism."