A group of Jewish philanthropists is planning to create an international television news channel to counter the influence of outlets like Al-Jazeera.

The need to have a channel that can help fight the international campaign to delegitimise Israel was one of the main items on the agenda of the annual International Leadership Reunion (ILR) of Keren Hayesod - also attended by the Jewish Federations of North America - this week in Washington.

Among the speakers was Israeli Ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, who said: "I cannot go into a campus or university without there being a group of demonstrators outside accusing me of war crimes. If we don't stand up now, if we don't take the battle to those leading the campaign to delegitimise Israel, the situation will become irreversible."

ILR 2011 Chairman, the president of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Dr Alexander Mashkevitz, said that "now our biggest need is for a television channel that will tell the truth about what is going on in Israel and the world."

Dr Mashkevitz said that channels like Al-Jazeera pose a threat both to Israel and the West as a whole.

Our biggest need is for a channel that will tell the truth Dr Alexander Mashkevitz

He added that the proposed channel would "not be about propaganda" but about "providing reliable and balanced information on what is happening in Israel". Feasibility studies for the project have been commissioned.