Polanski defends leadership after Zionism row and by-election loss

Zack Polanski failed to show leadership over a motion passed by Green Party members declaring Zionism a form of racism, the party's former leader Caroline Lucas has told the BBC.

Lucas told Newsnight that the party's current leader, who did not attend the debate on the motion at the Green Party's annual conference in Brighton, "should have been there and he should have voted".

She described the motion, which defined Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state", as "dangerous" and "divisive".

In the wake of the vote, Polanski has said he will not accept anyone being excluded from the Green Party "because of the religious or communal body they are part of".

Lucas's comments came shortly after polls closed in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, where Polanski stood as a candidate, but before the result was declared.

Polanski came second to Labour in the by-election, although Labour's majority was slashed from 11,572 to 3,364.

Speaking after the result was declared, Polanski said he would continue as leader, adding: "Yes I've taken a loss tonight but our movement is so much bigger than one election or one motion."

Asked whether he agreed with the decision by party members to vote that Zionism is racism, Polanski, who is Jewish, told reporters: "I grew up in a Zionist household and I grew up with the idea that that region was a land without a people and a people without a land and as I've educated myself, learned, discovered, I don't believe that's true.

"And what we're seeing is an ongoing genocide and the displacement of the Palestinian people. I believe that's clearly racist."

Israel has repeatedly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israeli forces of genocide, but it could take years to reach a conclusion. Israel has called the case "wholly unfounded" and based on "biased and false claims".

Pressed again over whether he agreed that "Zionism is racism", he said: "The displacement of the Palestinian people, the genocide, is totally racist."

Asked if he would apologise to Jewish people upset by the vote on the motion, Polanski said: "It's my job to reassure people and to make sure that we bring our party together.

"Nobody will be excluded in the Green Party based on faith and religion."

Polanski had declined media interviews in the final days of the by-election campaign, as his party faced criticism over the motion.

His comments after the result were the first time he had answered questions on the issue since the motion passed.

Polanski did not vote on the motion on Sunday after leaving the party's conference early to campaign in the north London constituency.

The motion also backed a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine", which includes modern-day Israel.

Under Green Party rules, motions supported by members become official party policy, but will not necessarily be included in the party's manifesto at the next general election.

Lucas, who voted against the motion, said: "I would have hoped [Polanski] would have been a very strong critic of this motion."

She added that it was "flawed from top to bottom".

Asked if Polanski should stand down, she told Newsnight: "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.

"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."

In response to Lucas's comments, a Green Party source 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."