Banned from Israel on Sunday, beaten by Labour on Thursday: Polanski’s rough week

Green members had approved a measure declaring Zionism as racism and calling for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel.

By Gila Isaacson, JFeed

Zack Polanski, leader of Britain’s Green Party and one of the country’s most prominent pro-Palestinian politicians, has lost his bid to enter Parliament.

Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council, won Thursday’s by-election in Holborn and St Pancras, the London seat vacated by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer. She took 12,292 votes to Polanski’s 8,928, a majority of 3,364.

Labour has held the seat since it was created in 1983. The margin is far smaller than the 11,572 majority Starmer won in 2024, but it was a comfortable win in a race the Greens had poured resources into.

The defeat caps a difficult week for Polanski.

On Sunday, Green members at the party’s conference in Brighton voted 1,022 to 813 for a motion declaring that Zionism is racism and backing a single Palestinian state in place of Israel.

Polanski did not take part in the vote. He had left the conference to campaign in the by-election, and two attempts to soften the motion that he supported were rejected by members. His deputy, Mothin Ali, spoke in favor of it.

Israel responded within hours. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar barred Polanski from entering the country, with the Foreign Ministry accusing the Greens of legitimizing the destruction of Israel.

The by-election would have made Polanski the party’s sixth MP. He remains leader of a party in Parliament without a seat there himself.