Kemi Badenoch has said she is 'embarrassed' that a UK political party would adopt a policy describing support for an Israeli state as racist, after the Green Party passed the motion on Sunday. Speaking at the Conservatives' conference in Birmingham, the Tory leader suggested Zack Polanski's party is 'full of a lot of people who are antisemites'.
At the Green Party's own conference in Brighton at the weekend, members backed a policy proposal titled 'Zionism is racism'. The motion called for a 'single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine', therefore rejecting the two-state solution supported by successive UK governments for decades. It also goes further than the Palestinian Authority, which backs a two-state solution to the conflict.
Badenoch's remarks
Badenoch told ITV: 'I think the Green Party is full of a lot of people who are antisemites and are quite frankly not OK.'
'This is disgusting. These are not people whose opinions we should be respecting. These are people who we should be calling out as being shameful.'
'I'm embarrassed that a political party in this country would actually do something like that.'
Green Party response
In response, a Green Party spokesperson said: 'These are not people whose opinions we should be respecting perfectly describes the Conservative Party.'
Polanski released a statement yesterday evening which did not address the policy directly but emphasised that antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli state are 'completely distinct'. He said: 'It's our role as a movement for justice to protect both the rights of Palestinians and our Jewish communities here in the UK.'
'As leader I will not accept any exclusion, or refusal to engage with anyone, because of the religious or communal body they are part of.'
The party leader was banned from entering Israel following Sunday's vote.
Party members react
Yesterday, the chair of Jewish Greens Vivien Lichtenstein told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that 'there are certainly some antisemites in the party', though she added she did not believe that was the case at a senior level. She said it was 'quite possible' she would leave the party over the policy, adding: 'I'm giving it a little time and to talk with colleagues.'
Two other Green Party members, Andrée Frieze and Kieran Dams, have since told Metro they are quitting over the motion. Andrée said: 'I believe the motion makes Jews unsafe in the party.'
'There are 53 Muslim majority nations and 120 Christian majority countries, but we are saying the Jewish people cannot have a nation.'
The furore over the Green Party motion has overshadowed many of the events at the Conservative Party Conference, which is typically a far more high-profile affair. This afternoon, Badenoch announced the Tories would halve the amount of National Insurance employers pay for workers aged 21 to 24. The move would mean 7.5% is paid for this cohort rather than the 15% currently paid by employers of all those aged 21 and above, which the party argued would end a 'cliff edge'.
Badenoch suggested the tax cut would be paid for by redirecting the money the Tories would have collected as part of a policy proposed last year, called the First Job Bonus. At the conference, the party has also announced plans to create a missile defence system for the UK's critical national infrastructure named Britannia Shield and a plan to cut the price of a new home by £50,000.
