Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called on Green Party leader Zack Polanski to reverse a motion passed by party members declaring Zionism a form of racism, and to make sure it does not become official Green Party policy.
In his first public remarks on the dispute, Burnham said it was “completely wrong” for the party to back the motion and that the decision showed “terrible judgement”. He said the measure effectively ruled out a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
“For that reason, it shouldn’t be supported in any way, shape or form,” he told reporters during a visit to Berlin.
Asked whether he would rule out entering a coalition with the Greens, Burnham would not be drawn on “any business about what might or might not happen in the future”.
Lucas says leadership was missing
Former Green leader Caroline Lucas told BBC Newsnight that Polanski failed to show leadership over the motion, which members passed at the party’s annual conference in Brighton on Sunday. He left the conference early to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election and did not vote on it.
Lucas said the leader “should have been there and he should have voted”. She called the motion “dangerous” and “divisive”, and said it was “flawed from top to bottom”. She voted against it.
“I would have hoped [Polanski] would have been a very strong critic of this motion,” she told the programme.
Asked whether Polanski should stand down, Lucas said: “I think let’s just see what happens in the coming days and weeks. Obviously he has been completely taken up with this by-election.”
She added: “I want him to speak now about what’s happened, I want him to show the leadership that was frankly missing on Sunday. I think the jury is out about whether he will do that – but I very much hope he will.”
Her comments came after polls closed in the by-election, where Polanski is a candidate. The Greens are seeking to overturn a substantial Labour majority in the seat vacated by former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
What the motion says
The motion defined Zionism as an ideology supporting “an ethnonationalist Jewish state” and backed “a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine”, which takes in modern-day Israel.
Under Green Party rules, motions supported by members become official party policy, although they are not necessarily included in the party’s manifesto at the next general election.
Polanski has declined media interviews since the vote and did not answer a BBC reporter’s questions about the motion on Thursday. In a written statement on Monday he did not say whether he supported it, but sought to reassure Jewish members that “no-one will be made unwelcome because of their background, their faith, or where they worship”.
Polanski, who is Jewish, also said that “antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli state are, and must always be, completely distinct”. He has said he will not accept anyone being excluded from the Green Party “because of the religious or communal body they are part of”.
Ahead of the vote, he backed an amendment stating the motion should not be used to discipline Jewish members who attend synagogues that consider themselves Zionist, but members voted it down. He had also called for the reference to a single Palestinian state to be changed, arguing: “I don’t believe we as a Green Party of England and Wales, or even the British government, should be deciding what the future settlement looks like.”
Divisions within the party
The vote exposed splits between the party’s enlarged membership base under Polanski and its MPs elected at the last general election. Four of the five Green MPs opposed the motion, while the party’s co-deputy leaders were divided over whether they supported it.
It also led to the resignation of the Green deputy leader in Wales and condemnation from the European Green Party.
A Green Party source, responding to Lucas’s criticism, said: “There are ups and downs in politics and when people are passionate they disagree in the heat of a campaign. We do things differently – unlike Labour who use anonymous sources and resort to factionalism.”
A Green Party spokesperson said on Thursday: “This has been an emotive issue and is complex. It has rightly caused much discussion, and needs to be taken in the context that Israel’s behaviour has had.” The spokesperson added: “Israel has been responsible for a genocide, ethnic cleansing and the killing of children, and we’ve had a political establishment which has not only turned a blind eye but provided support.”
The International Court of Justice is currently hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israeli forces of genocide, though a conclusion could take years. Israel has called the case “wholly unfounded” and based on “biased and false claims”.
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