{"id":385363,"date":"2026-04-10T17:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/385363\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T17:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:36:12","slug":"jewish-leader-of-uks-green-party-calls-to-end-trade-diplomatic-ties-with-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/385363\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish leader of UK\u2019s Green Party calls to end trade, diplomatic ties with Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

JTA \u2014 The Jewish leader of the United Kingdom\u2019s Green Party has called on the government to sever trade and diplomatic ties with Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Zack Polanski made the comments during the first minutes of a speech<\/a> on Thursday that launched the Green Party\u2019s local election campaign in London. Polanski, who has led his left-populist party to major wins<\/a> since taking over in September, hopes the Greens will benefit from protest votes against the Labour government in local elections on May 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is outrageous that Israel is still enjoying diplomatic and trade privileges from the international community, and as a Green Party, we are calling on this government to make much more robust sanctions, to withdraw the UK-Israel trade agreement, and to end the genocide,\u201d said Polanski.<\/p>\n

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon killed over 250 people<\/a> on Wednesday, according to local authorities, with Israel claiming many of those killed were members of Hezbollah. It marked the deadliest day of the war between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, an Iranian proxy, threatening the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The Israeli army is fighting across southern Lebanon, and government officials have signaled that it plans to occupy the area<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polanski also said the United Kingdom should block the United States military from using UK airspace to ensure the UK has no involvement in strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe still have UK soil and UK bases where US bombers are flying over to Iran,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we need to do is disentangle the UK military and the US military, ban the US from using our airspaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> on Thursday, Polanski added that the British government \u201cmust suspend diplomatic ties and stop all arms sales to this increasingly rogue state.\u201d He accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being \u201ctoo cowardly and complicit to condemn Israeli atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tBritain\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is welcomed at an airport in Bahrain, April 9, 2026. (AP\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Polanski has said that he grew up in a \u201cZionist household\u201d and attended King David, a Jewish school in Manchester. He said in an interview with the BBC<\/a> that his views on Israel began to shift after he encountered Breaking the Silence, a group of Israeli veterans who say they are morally obligated to recount their experiences of military control over Palestinians. Polanski also said that the war in Gaza solidified his staunch criticism of Israel.<\/p>\n

Polanski is a member of Na\u2019amod<\/a>, an organization of British Jews who say they seek \u201cto end our community\u2019s support for Israel\u2019s occupation and apartheid, and to mobilise it in the struggle for freedom, equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Polanski gave qualified support<\/a> to a Green Party motion called \u201cZionism is racism,\u201d saying he would back the resolution if its definition of \u201cZionism\u201d was linked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government and its actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The Jewish Greens, a subgroup within the party, urged their colleagues to vote against the motion<\/a>. \u201cThis is not your run-of-the-mill motion opposing Israel\u2019s actions (something that Jewish Greens would have no problem with), but something much more problematic that is likely to make Jews feel unwelcome in the Green Party,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tGreen Party leader Zack Polanski, center, sits with now-MP Hannah Spencer in Manchester, England, January 30, 2026. (AP\/Jon Super)<\/p>\n

The British outlet Jewish News<\/a> reported that some of Polanski\u2019s family members, including his mother, have expressed support for Israel on social media.<\/p>\n

The \u201cZionism is racism\u201d motion failed to pass<\/a> in March after internal disputes, though it remains on the table for a later vote.<\/p>\n

Polanski frequently speaks about his pride in being Jewish and says that pride led to his support for Palestinians. In a TikTok video<\/a> last year, he said that being Jewish to him meant \u201cstanding against injustice\u201d and \u201cremembering our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I speak out for Palestinians, I don\u2019t do it in spite of my Judaism,\u201d said Polanski. \u201cI do it because of it. Because \u2018never again\u2019 for one group of people must actually mean \u2018never again\u2019 for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n


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