A decision by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, an umbrella body comprised of 50 Jewish institutions, to host a Chanukah party at President-elect Donald Trump’s Washington hotel on Wednesday night prompted anger and disapproval from the wider Jewish community.

A 200-strong protest organised by If Not Now, a left-leaning Jewish activist group, took place outside the hotel on the night.

Several organisations in the Conference of Presidents — including the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest American denomination — criticised the choice of venue and said they would not attend the party.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, told the Washington Post last week that the organization would not move the party over any protests.

“It was done purely on a pragmatic basis,” he said. “The reasoning behind it was nothing to do with the Trump name.”

The fact that the event at the Trump International Hotel was co-hosted by the Embassy of Azerbaijan also drew fire from Jewish groups, which pointed to the Azeri government’s poor human rights record.