JEREMY Corbyn has issued a personal apology over the anti-Semitism row that has engulfed Labour and created the biggest crisis of his leadership.

In a three-minute video released on social media on Sunday, Mr Corbyn said: “I’m sorry for the hurt that has been caused to many Jewish people."

He said it was his responsibility as leader to root out the problem, and said those who denied there were anti-Semites in the party were making matters worse.

Many of his comments, including an admission Labour has been too slow to deal with complaints of anti-Semitism, echoed a newspaper article he wrote on Friday.

The intervention came just hours after deputy leader Tom Watson warned Labour needed to take a “long hard look at ourselves”, or risk disappearing “into a vortex of eternal shame”.

He also said Labour should adopt an international definition of anti-Semitism in full and drop disciplinary action against two MPs who criticised Mr Corbyn’s handling of the row.

The row over anti-Semitism, which has rumbled on for months, reignited last month after an attempt by Labour’s ruling body to address it spectacularly backfired.

As part of a new code of conduct for members, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) agreed to cherry pick parts of a widely used definition of anti-Semitism.

The NEC chose to omit four examples given by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) which referred to extreme criticism of Israel.

The move inflamed many Labour MPs and led to claim a government led by Mr Corbyn would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in the UK.

A recording from the NEC meeting involved then revealed Peter Willsman, an ally of Mr Corbyn, ranted about Jewish “Trump fanatics” falsifying evidence, but was not disciplined.

In his video, Mr Corbyn said restoring trust with the Jewish community was now a priority.

He said: “Driving anti-Semitism out of the party for good and working with the Jewish community to rebuild trust are vital priorities.

“I am sorry for the hurt that has been caused to many Jewish people. We have been too slow in processing many disciplinary cases of mostly online anti-Semitic abuse by party members… It is my responsibility to root out anti-Semitism in the Labour party.”

He said the offenders were less than 0.1 per cent of the the party’s 500,000 members, but “one is too many”.

He said: “Our party must never be a home for such people and never will be. People who use anti-Semitic poison need to understand: you do not do it in my name or the name of my party.

"You are not our supporters. And anyone who denies that this has surfaced within our party is clearly actually wrong and contributing to the problem.”

In an interview with the Observer, Mr Watson said the party had to act decisively to put the crisis behind it.

He said: "This is one of those moments when we have to take a long, hard look at ourselves, stand up for what is right and present the party as fit to lead the nation - or disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment."

He called for disciplinary action against MPs Ian Austin and Dame Margaret Hodge - who confronted Mr Corbyn in Parliament over his response to the row - to be dropped.

"I think it is very important that we all work to de-escalate this disagreement, and I think it starts with dropping the investigations into Margaret Hodge and Ian Austin," he said.

"I have frequently had very difficult conversations with both Margaret and Ian but what I understand is that your critics are not your enemies. On an issue that is so dear to them, I think people are very, very concerned that these investigations should be dropped quickly."

He added: "We should deal with this swiftly and move on. I have made no secret of the fact that... we should adopt the full IHRA definition and should do it without delay."

Jewish groups on Saturday night criticised Mr Corbyn for issuing his newspaper article late on Friday, just as many Jews were observing the sabbath and unable to respond.

“Mr Corbyn’s ideological hostility to the IHRA definition of antisemitism epitomises the enduring problem,” the groups said.

“Post-Sabbath, Jewish organisations can now respond to Jeremy Corbyn’s ill-timed and ill-conceived Guardian article on Labour’s antisemitism problem. Once again Mr Corbyn, of all people, has chosen to lecture Jews on antisemitism.”