Zack Polanski risked stoking the major anti-Semitism row engulfing the Green Party today as he endorsed an attack on critics of a new ‘Zionism is Racism’ policy.
The Green leader broke his social media silence following the seismic conference vote to like a post telling those worried about its impact on the party to ‘get over yourselves’.
He supported a post on the BlueSky platform under a post by Caroline Lucas, a former party leader, which suggested people should ‘move on’ instead of confronting the fallout.
Mr Polanski is under huge pressure after Greens supported a party conference motion that effectively calls for the destruction of Israel.
He faced accusations of political cowardice after astonishingly choosing to skip the vote in Brighton and instead campaign in Holborn and St Pancras ahead of the by-election he is standing in next week.
He has yet to directly respond, but he left a like on a post by Green member Gill Tavner, who hit out at another who feared the vote was ‘the end of the party’.
She replied: ‘Only because some of you won’t move on.
‘The decision is made. Sometimes they don’t go your way. If you’d prefer to be with genocidal Labour, maybe just go.
‘We need to unite and build on the exciting momentum since Zack Polanski became leader. Get over yourselves and move on.’
Mr Polanski, usually a prolific poster on social media, has posted this morning – to tell followers about a visit to a youth center.
Mr Polanski is under huge pressure after Green members passed a ‘Zionism is Racism’ policy at its annual conference that effectively calls for the destruction of Israel
He faced accusations of political cowardice after astonishingly choosing to skip the vote in Brighton and instead campaign in Holborn and St Pancras ahead of the by-election he is standing in next week
Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis became the latest critic today, saying the motion was a ‘threat to British Jews and to Britain’
Tel Aviv responded by banning Mr Polanski from entering the country, and he desperately tried to row back by joining criticism of the motion levelled by the party’s five MPs, but is facing growing anger at his lack of leadership.
He is expected to lose to Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali in Holborn but allies today tried to set him a low bar for ‘victory’ in the contest.
Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis became the latest critic today, saying the motion was a ‘threat to British Jews and to Britain’.
Political commentator Aaron Bastani said Mr Polanski was the victim of a ‘choreographed effort’ to get him to resign after Thursday’s vote, adding: ‘If the Greens get within 3,000 votes of Labour, in 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.’
Meanwhile, former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, now a member of the hard-Left Your party, wrote on X: ‘Reminder: anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. The smears won’t work.’
His failure to stand up to hardline Palestine activists in his party may also have killed off a route into government as part of a ‘rainbow coalition’ of centre-Left parties.
Last week Andy Burnham said he wanted to change the UK’s electoral system to a proportional representation system that could make coalitions more likely.
Fears have been raised that he could lead a government that could include Green MPs.
But Paul Ovenden, a former aide to Sir Keir Starmer, wrote on X: ‘Last week, the Green Party were offered the biggest opportunity they’ve ever had, in the shape of electoral reform.
‘Today, they’ve made it impossible for them to be accommodated in any administration.’
Members in Brighton backed the motion with 1,022 votes in favour and 813 against.
It declares the Greens to be an ‘anti-Zionist party’ and sets into its policy that Zionism, the movement to develop and protect a Jewish state in Israel, will be ‘treated as any other form of racism’.
It also supports the establishment 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’.
