Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

UK Green Party elects new leader who accuses Israel of ‘genocide’

A Jewish London assembly member, he has also claimed that its prime minister has committed war crimes.

Zack Polanski
Zack Polanski. Credit: Bristol Green Party/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.

The Green Party of England and Wales elected a 42-year-old Jewish London assembly member, who has accused Israel of genocide and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes, as its party leader on Tuesday.

“As a Jewish person, I know that ‘never again’ means never again for everyone,” Zack Polanski stated on July 27. “End the genocide.”

Jake Wallis Simons, former editor of the Jewish Chronicle, called Polanski “a disgrace to his own people.”

In the UK general election on July 4, 2024, the Green Party gained three seats—from one to four—out of a total of 650 parliamentary seats. It was the first time that it had secured more than a single seat, according to a parliamentary analysis, which noted that Green parties won 6.7% of the vote nationally, compared to 2.7% in 2019.

“If I’m the first Jew or first Israeli that anyone meets, I want them to have a good impression of who I am and who we are as a people,” the newly crowned 25-year-old told JNS.
Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin will serve as a point of contact for Jewish students, advise university leaders on combating antisemitism and help oversee compliance with Columbia’s agreement with the Trump administration.
Iran will be held accountable for its “sick attempt at global coercion,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told the U.N. Security Council.
“We are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
A survey found that 53.3% of respondents said that Netanyahu was best for the role, followed by Gadi Eisenkot at 26.5%.
“Evidently, the Orange County/LA Club determined that endangering the Jewish community is not disqualifying or inconsistent with ‘truth,’ ‘fairness,’ and building ‘goodwill,’” Julia Heiman of the Jewish Community Action Network said.