Supporters of Zack Polanski are mounting an urgent defence of the embattled Green Party leader as he faces a major anti-Semitism controversy and mounting uncertainty over his political future.
Pressure intensified after Green members approved a “Zionism is Racism” policy at the party’s annual conference—a move critics say effectively amounts to a call for Israel’s destruction.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis became the latest prominent figure to condemn the motion, describing it as a “threat to British Jews and to Britain”.
Polanski, who was barred from entering Israel last night, attempted to distance himself from the policy by joining the criticism voiced by the party’s five MPs. However, his response has done little to calm growing anger over what opponents describe as a failure of leadership.
He has also been accused of political cowardice after choosing not to attend Thursday’s vote in Brighton, opting instead to campaign in Holborn and St Pancras, where he is standing in next week’s by-election.
Polanski is widely expected to lose the contest to Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, but allies have sought to lower expectations by presenting a narrow defeat as a potential measure of success.
Political commentator Aaron Bastani said Polanski had become the target of a “choreographed effort” designed to force him out after the conference vote.
“If the Greens get within 3,000 votes of Labour, in the middle of the Burnham bump—in the seat where (Keir) Starmer, (Peter) Mandelson and (Alastair) Campbell live—then it’s clear they’re here to stay,” he said.
Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who is now affiliated with the hard-left Your Party, wrote on X: “Reminder: anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. The smears won’t work.”
Polanski is facing intense pressure after Green members approved a “Zionism is Racism” policy at their annual conference, a measure critics say effectively calls for Israel’s destruction
The Green leader was accused of political cowardice after skipping the Brighton vote to campaign in Holborn and St Pancras before next week’s by-election
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis condemned the motion as a “threat to British Jews and to Britain”
Polanski’s failure to confront hardline pro-Palestinian activists within his party may also have ended hopes of the Greens joining a centre-left “rainbow coalition” in government.
Last week, Andy Burnham said he wanted to replace the UK’s electoral system with proportional representation, a change that could make coalition governments more likely.
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That prospect had prompted concern that a future administration led by him could include Green MPs.
But Paul Ovenden, a former aide to Keir Starmer, wrote on X: “Last week, the Green Party was offered the biggest opportunity it had ever received, in the form of electoral reform.
“Today, they have made it impossible for them to be included in any administration.”
The motion was approved by Green members in Brighton by 1,022 votes to 813.
It formally describes the Greens as an “anti-Zionist party” and states that Zionism—the movement to establish and safeguard a Jewish state in Israel—should be “treated as any other form of racism”.
The policy also backs the creation of a “single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”.
Supporters chanted ‘say it loud, say it clear, Zionists are not welcome here’ as the campaigners behind the motion, Greens for Palestine, gathered to speak to the media.
Sir Ephraim said he was ‘appalled’ by the motion, claiming the Green Party had resurrected a ‘discredited and dangerous slander’ first promoted by the Soviet Union.
‘All decent people will see this for what it is: poisonous antisemitism, a threat to British Jews and to Britain,’ he said.
Israel accused the Green Party of legitimising ‘the destruction of the State of Israel’ with a ‘clear antisemitic text’.
Foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar declared that Mr Polanski was now barred from entering Israel.
‘Today, the Green Party in Britain adopted a resolution equating Zionism with racism, legitimising armed struggle against Israel, and calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state ‘from the river to the sea’ – meaning the destruction of the State of Israel,’ the Israeli foreign ministry said.
In a statement with Green MPs and his deputies, Mr Polanski said there is ‘no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people’.