'A party of poison': As Zack Polanski is forced to apologise for attacking police over Golders Green, pressure grows on leader to purge anti-Semites

By SOPHIE CHURCH - POLITICAL REPORTER and SAM MERRIMAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:59, 2 May 2026 | Updated: 01:22, 2 May 2026 Zack Polanski was on Friday under intense pressure to 'get a grip' on the anti–Semitic 'poison' infecting the Green Party. In a humiliating climbdown, the Greens' leader was forced to apologise for sharing a 'disgraceful' social media post which criticised the police officers who arrested the alleged Golders Green attacker this week. The apology followed 24 hours of heavy criticism from the police, Jewish leaders and even senior figures in Mr Polanski's own party. Writing in the Daily Mail, communities secretary Steve Reed welcomed the apology but warned it was 'nowhere near enough'. He urged the Greens' leader to 'get a grip' on the party's anti–Semitism crisis and ditch a raft of election candidates found to have been 'spewing racist hatred' against Jews. The Mail can reveal sickening details of Green candidates standing in next week's local elections who have likened Jews to the Nazis, praised terror group Hamas and claimed that anti–Semitic attacks are 'false flag' operations designed to win sympathy for the Jewish community. Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said 'one look beneath the surface of Zack Polanski's Green Party shows a poison party, toxic to its core'. 'A candidate who called for the mayor of London to be put into a coma,' he added. 'A leader who reposted a tweet casting the Golders Green terrorist as a victim of police brutality while two Jewish men lay in hospital. Zack Polanski faced intense pressure on Friday to 'get a grip' on the anti–Semitic 'poison' infecting the Green Party Polanski retweeted a post suggesting hero policemen who disarmed the Golders Green terrorist were heavy handed 'A party that cannot bring itself to stand unambiguously against those who hate Jewish people going about their daily lives in this country. The Green Party have created the conditions that welcome them.' Keir Starmer branded Mr Polanski 'disgraceful' in an interview for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, recorded before Mr Polanski's apology. The PM said he was 'not fit to lead any political party'. Defending the actions of the police, Sir Keir added: 'You have to make a decision in that split moment according to the situation as you understand it to be. 'For politicians to wade in, as Zack Polanski did, is disgraceful. He's not fit to lead any political party.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said 'the mask of the loony Left has finally slipped as we head towards the sharp end of this campaign'. He added: 'It's clear that Zack Polanski is a pound–shop Jeremy Corbyn. His party must never be allowed anywhere near the levers of power.' In a sign that the anti–Semitism crisis is fuelling tensions at the top of the party, Welsh Greens leader Anthony Slaughter refused to defend Mr Polanski's intervention, saying his comments were 'inappropriate'. On Friday, Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel branded Mr Polanski an 'extremist'. 'Him and his party are continuing this path of conspiracy theories and hatred towards Jews,' she said. Writing in the Daily Mail, communities secretary Steve Reed (pictured) welcomed Polanski's apology but warned it was 'nowhere near enough'. He urged the Greens' leader to 'get a grip' on the party's anti–Semitism crisis Mark Adderley (pictured, right, with his wife, actress and former Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha) was booted out of the party after saying Judaism is 'a cult' and suggesting the Bondi Beach massacre was the fault of Israel The row came after Mr Polanski shared criticism of Metropolitan Police officers who disarmed and detained the suspect in Golders Green after Wednesday's double stabbing. He shared a post on X which claimed the two officers were 'violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head'. The intervention drew a rare rebuke from Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, who accused Mr Polanski of spreading 'misinformed' rhetoric about the dangerous operation to tackle an armed terrorist suspect. In a brief statement late yesterday, the Green Party leader apologised for 'sharing a tweet in haste' and added that social media was 'not the appropriate channel' for commenting on police actions. But in a day of woe for Mr Polanski, on Friday he was facing calls to purge his party of anti–Semites – with the Mail exposing yet more anti–Jewish hatred in the Greens' ranks. With Britain's Jewish community reeling from the latest threat to their safety, the Mail has found Green Party candidates comparing Jewish people to Nazis and Zionists to rodents. The Croydon Green Party encouraged people to vote for a local council candidate even after he had been suspended for anti–Semitism, we can reveal. Mark Adderley, husband of actress and former Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha, was booted out of the party after saying Judaism is 'a cult' and suggesting the Bondi Beach massacre was the fault of Israel, among other slurs. Responding to an Instagram user asking why Mr Adderley had been 'sacked', the Croydon Green Party's account responded: 'Mark is still on the ballot and if you are a resident of Crystal Palace you can still vote for him on May 7.' The Green Party said the post was deleted soon afterwards. Polanski with his Green Party deputy leaders: Mothin Ali (centre) and Rachel Millward (right). Millward has suggested racial hatred in Britain arises from rising food prices and energy bills – not specific groups Polanski campaigning for the local elections in London. The Mail can reveal that the national Green Party has no formal vetting process to weed out unsuitable candidates, leaving candidate selections up to local parties Meanwhile, Nosheed Majid, a Leeds candidate, compared Jewish people to modern–day Nazis in a video online. Ms Majid asks an elderly man whether he knows about 'the injustice of why the Second World War happened with the Nazis and everything and the Jews?' She adds: 'And now, the Jews are doing the same thing to the Palestinians, so that's why we march.' A party source said Ms Majid's case was 'being looked into'. Tina Ion, a Green candidate in Newcastle, used the term 'ziorodent' to describe a Jewish man and suggested that 'cannibalism stems from Zionism' on a Threads account named 'thereal.anne.frank'. The Newcastle Greens said they were 'appalled by the racist material written and shared by Tina Ion' and that they 'do not support her candidacy'. Greens campaigner Joel Instone, who helped Hannah Spencer secure a seat in Parliament when she won the Gorton and Denton by–election earlier this year, has called to 'globalise the intifada' and for 'death to the IDF' in videos posted online. A Green Party source said: 'This was covered at the time of the election, and it transpired that he was one of thousands of individual volunteers who turned up on one of the publicly advertised event days to campaign.' Rebecca Jones, running in Blackheath, south London, called what is thought to be the final testament of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, before he was killed by the Israeli army, 'so beautiful'. Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023, attacks that left 1,195 dead. Ms Jones also posted an image of a masked fighter holding a burning Israeli flag alongside the words 'burn Zionism to the ground'. A Green Party spokesman said: 'Some of these posts do not represent Green Party values – this has been discussed with the candidate and the posts have been deleted.' Polanski dancing with Green MP Hannah Spencer. Greens campaigner Joel Instone, who helped Spencer secure a seat in Parliament when she won a by–election earlier this year, has called to 'globalise the intifada' and for 'death to the IDF' in videos posted online Aziz Hakimi, running in Camden's Haverstock ward but now suspended by the party, shared an article claiming the attack on four Jewish charity–owned Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green was a 'false flag' operation. Mr Hakimi also reposted claims online that Zionists were behind the 9/11 attacks. The Mail can also reveal that the national Green Party has no formal vetting process to weed out unsuitable candidates, leaving candidate selections up to local parties. A party source said the party was 'scaling up our structures now so that candidate selection is better supported in the future'. This comes as two Green Party candidates were arrested this week on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred for allegedly posting anti–Semitic comments online. Saiqa Ali, standing in Streatham, and Sabine Mairey, the candidate for Clapham Town, were detained by Met Police officers. Deputy Greens leader Rachel Millward has suggested racial hatred in Britain arises from rising food prices and energy bills – not specific groups. Asked about racial hatred by an audience member on the BBC's Question Time, she said: 'The economic situation – which is disastrous at the moment – is a big reason why hate's on the rise.' The Conservatives have also suspended a candidate who said the actions of the Israeli government proved 'Hitler was right'. Helena Kanaan, who was standing to be a councillor in Wandsworth, south London, made the comment in a now–deleted online post seen by The Daily Telegraph. A Green Party source said: 'Local parties make decisions on candidate selections, including vetting. We have over 4,500 standing at this election. 'Clearly, in a handful of cases, some of those standing have displayed behaviour that fails to align with our values. These are all being carefully looked at.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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