Ukip has defended its European Parliament alliance with a member of a party whose leader questions the Holocaust and makes racist slurs.
The British party admitted Polish MEP Robert Iwaszkiewicz was an "odd bedfellow" following his recruitment this week, but said it was necessary to work with him.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said he had found "nothing in this guy's background to suggest he is a political extremist at all" and dismissed comments Mr Iwaszkiewicz reportedly made about wife-beating as "a joke".
Mr Iwaszkiewicz is a member of the Congress of the New Right, whose leader, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, is reported to have said that Hitler was unaware of the Holocaust.
Korwin-Mikke has previously spoken of a "Holocaust industry" and made offensive remarks about black Americans and rape. He also called Jews "our worst enemies".
Mr Iwaszkiewicz will sit alongside Ukip MEPs in the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in Brussels. Ukip's decision to include him means the party will be able to continue receiving around £1 million a year in European funding.
The move was also defended by leading Jewish supporters of Ukip.
Shneur Odze, the party's only strictly-Orthodox candidate in May's European elections, said: "We have invited one person to join and not the leader. The man that has joined us said he wanted Hitler dead, he is no closet fascist."
He added that some people would find the move "a difficult pill to swallow", but encouraged them to understand the "nuances and intricacies of European politics".
He said: "There are no saints here. We are talking about people we uncomfortably sit with in order to get out of the EU. It's the lesser of two evils.
"Of course I'm not happy being in the European Parliament with virtually any of these people. I understand the position of supporters who say we should not take our seats in the parliament."
Jeremy Zeid, the Jewish chairman of Ukip's Harrow branch, said: "I will be keeping an eye on this, especially with the rise in Jew hatred. Am I happy about it, no, but I am not at the coalface in Europe. This is purely a 'marriage of convenience', otherwise the EFDD group falls below the numbers to get funding and offices."
The Board of Deputies said it was "beyond belief" for Ukip to choose Mr Iwaszkiewicz "apparently for money", and highlighted France's Front National's rejection of Mr Korwin-Mikke's group for being too extreme.
Board vice-president Jonathan Arkush said: "The Board is gravely concerned. Robert Iwaszkiewicz belongs to an extremist party whose leader has a history of Holocaust denial, racist remarks and misogynistic comments.
"Farage now has some very serious questions to answer. He has placed in issue the credibility of Ukip."
In a statement following Mr Iwaszkiewicz's recruitment, Mr Farage said: "The Eurosceptics are now back with a bang."
A spokesman for the EFDD group said: "Korwin-Mikke is not a member of our group. Both Ukip and the EFDD abhor and reject any scent of antisemitism."
