A British charity is to launch an appeal for scholarships to give Charedi students in Israel better access to education and employment.

The UK branch of the Jerusalem Foundation is hoping to sponsor places at the Haredi College in Jerusalem.

The college, which has 1,400 male and female students on vocational courses especially geared for the strictly Orthodox community, is headed by Rabbanit Adina Bar Shalom, the daughter of former Israeli Sephardi Chief, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Nearly 60 per cent of Israel’s Charedi community are thought to live in poverty, and lack of participation in the workforce is one of the causes of political tension between the strictly Orthodox and other sectors of Israeli society.

Susan Winton, executive director of the foundation in the UK, said; “We believe the college is crucial to the Charedi community’s prosperity.

“Charedim need to be educated to get jobs. The college is vocational and students have a very good record in going into employment afterwards.

“So we are helping them to help themselves. It costs £1,800 per year for a student at the college.”