Breitbart chief Steve Bannon calls on US Jewish community to support Trump

Nationalist media guru Steve Bannon who helped US President Donald Trump climb to power has called on the country's Jewish community to help the right beat centrists in government.

Bannon told members of the Zionist Organization of America that Jewish Americans should get behind the president in his battle against more moderate Republicans.

"We're leading an insurgency movement against the Republican establishment," he told the crowd. "President Trump needs our back. We're a nation at war. This war is only going to be won if we bind together and work as partners."

The Zionist Organisation of America is a hawkish pro-Israel lobby group, which is less well represented among the US Jewish community than more centrist groups.

Bannon said he was proud to call himself a "Christian Zionist" and strong supporter of Israel.

"I am not a moderate, I'm a fighter. And that's why I'm proud to stand with the state of Israel. That’s why I'm proud to be a Christian Zionist," he told the crowd.

Despite the call to the audience to rally behind the president, other members of the Jewish community held a rally outside the venue against Bannon.

He and his Breitbart media group have been accused of pursuing a right-wing and anti-Semitic agenda, although Bannon has always made his views clear on Israel.

Members of the Jewish, anti-occuption IfNotNow group protested outside the organisation's awards in New York, highlight Bannon's links to far-right individuals.

Bannon was Trump's chief strategist in the White House until he left in August, but has been vocally supportive of the president in the months that followed.