Mr Polanksi, who was defeated by Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, went on a rant about the Israeli Government as he dodged growing claims of anti-Semitism within his own party.
Zack Polanski has sparked fresh fury this morning (Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/the Press Association)
Bumbling Zack Polanski sparked fresh fury after defending the Green Party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Mr Polanksi, who was defeated by Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, went on a rant about the Israeli Government as he dodged growing claims of anti-Semitism within his own party. And as he refused to say whether Israel even has a right to exist he was blasted by a Jewish community group as a ‘danger’.
The Green Party’s controversial motion defines Zionism as a form of racism, and an ideology that supports “an ethnonationalist Jewish state”. It also backs a “single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine”.
Asked if he thinks Zionism is racist, Mr Polanski said: “The first thing I’d say is I don’t think this is actually controversial. I think what’s controversial is that 75,000 Palestinians have been murdered in the last few years, including more child amputees than ever in modern history. So, when you take that into account – the fact that they’re being murdered because they’re Palestinian, that’s very obviously a racist ideology.”
And Mr Polanski confirmed the motion will not be overturned.
Zack Polanski appeared on the BBC this morning (Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/the Press Association)
He said: “You say it’s controversial in the party, but actually there was polling that showed the vast majority of Green voters from 2024 support this policy.
“I might not agree with every single word in it, I might want to see it amended in the future…[but] I’m not going to try and overturn it.”
“At the first available opportunity I do want to amend it. I want to move away from saying ‘one state’ to saying that Israelis and Palestinians should decide that future for themselves.”
The party leader missed the crucial conference vote which endorsed a policy effectively calling for Israel to be abolished and replaced with a single Palestinian state.
Former leader Caroline Lucas said Mr Polanski “should have been there and he should have voted” while ex-co-leader Adrian Ramsay has called for the party to get “back on track” and return to its “core purpose” of championing environmental causes.
Mr Polanski faced a grilling on the BBC (Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/the Press Association)
The Green Party leader said: “I think the controversial thing is that Western governments across the world have turned away while Palestinians have been murdered because they’re Palestinian. That’s very clearly racist, that’s quite obvious.
Asked if he believes that Zionism is “inherently racist”, Mr Polanski said: “The reason why I’m answering that question is that, rather than have a debate about semantics, it’s about the practical application of Zionism.”
And he dismissed the premise that for “many Jewish people, Zionism is simply the right to have a safe place to live”.
Mr Polanski told the BBC: “I think that’s what people think it means, but actually in practical application – which is what we’re talking about here – that homeland has come at the cost of the Palestinian people.
“I want equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians, and practical application of Zionism has not resulted in that.
“It’s for me as a leader to tell the truth, and in 1948 there was the Nakba; 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed. That’s racist.
“It’s my job to do two things.
“One is to reassure Jewish communities that under my leadership, no one will be excluded in the Green Party based on their faith or background. Jewish people, including myself very obviously, are very welcome.
“Second, it is my job to tell the truth. And this story of a Jewish homeland has come at the expense of Palestinians.
“There are many Jewish communities around this country and around the world, including left-wing Jews like myself, who feel great shame at the fact that in the name of Judaism, we are seeing Palestinians murdered.
“We absolutely need to stop conflating being Jewish and criticizing the Israeli state – they’re two separate things.”
Shimon Cohen, Campaign Director of Shechita UK, said: “Zack Polanski is a danger to British Jews. The reason isn’t that he hates us. It’s that he lacks the courage to stand up for us when it counts.
“He watched his party declare Zionism a form of racism, reviving a Soviet-era smear. He knew it would brand most British Jews as racists by association, and he equivocated. He calls the motion an unhelpful distraction, yet he still leads the party that passed it. In doing so he has given respectability to a slur that fuels hatred on our streets.
“Then there is the double standard. Polanski rightly condemns the antisemitism aimed at him. But when the wider community reports fear after arson and stabbings, he asks whether that fear is “real or perceived,” and he dismisses concern as political weaponisation. Jewish safety cannot matter only when it is his own. The logic of the motion collapses under the slightest pressure. Is the SNP‘s campaign for Scottish independence racist? Are Commonwealth republicans racist for wanting their own head of state? Every people’s right to self-determination is respected, except one. That is not anti-racism. It is the oldest prejudice in a new costume.
“Even his own allies see the damage. The European Greens have publicly distanced themselves, and senior Green MPs have voiced dismay. Polanski has turned a party that once stood for principle into one that stands for a slur.”