Green Party leader Zack Polanski has sparked fresh controversy after questioning Israel's right to exist as a nation. In an interview with ITV's Robert Peston, Mr Polanski stated: 'I don't believe any country has a right to exist. People have a right to exist.'
When pressed by Mr Peston on whether Israel has a right to exist, Mr Polanski replied: 'I don't believe any country has a right to exist. People have a right to exist. The Israelis have a right to exist; the Palestinians have a right to exist.' He argued that 'semantics about whether a country has a right to exist' were at the root of the current Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Mr Polanski's comments come amid a slump in his poll ratings following a series of controversies. He recently shared a post criticising police officers' treatment of a suspect accused of stabbing two Jewish men in Golders Green, and admitted to falsely claiming he had once been a 'spokesman' for the British Red Cross.
During the interview, Mr Polanski described Israel as a 'genocidal apartheid state' over its war on Gaza. He referenced the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised a 'national home' for the Jewish people and is seen as paving the way for Israel's creation in 1948. Mr Polanski suggested that such declarations lead to 'colonial gatekeeping', where former colonial rulers dictate the fate of post-colonial states.
Mr Peston responded by noting that the implication of Mr Polanski's stance is that Britain itself does not have the right to exist, 'which also carries quite heavy connotations.'
