The US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism will make ‘representations’ to the UK government following the Green party’s ‘zionism is racism’ policy, The Spectator can reveal.
Speaking in Washington DC, Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun rebuked the ‘hypocritical’ far-left party for targeting the concept of Jewish self-determination while remaining silent on pressing human rights abuses elsewhere in the world.
Asked by The Spectator for his response to the Green policy, Kaploun said: ‘We will be making some representations on the issue. A lot of countries are being hypocritical in the sense of they will only focus on Israel. They will not focus on other countries. If you look at the definition of the IHRA accords, which Britain signed, that the same condemnation that you want to use about Israel has to be used across the board on every country – I don’t think they are living up to the standard they signed with that agreement.’
The anti-Semitism envoy, who answers directly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also criticised a wider lack of understanding about the history of zionism, arguing that the concept of Jewish self-determination stretches back thousands of years.
He explained: ‘Jews are zionistic. We’ve been praying for the last 3,000 years and we say we lift up our eyes and we pray to Zion. That’s something we’ve been doing for 3,000 years. It’s not new. Zionism is where the Jewish community now has a state. I would venture to say that as you look through history all these countries that are now trying to equate zionism with racism didn’t allow Jews in before world war two.’
It comes as pressure has mounted from across the political spectrum over Zack Polanski’s motion. This morning, two local politicians resigned from the party.
Kieran Dams posted on X that, despite having ‘poured so much into this party over the years’, he could not ‘stay quiet and sit on the sidelines’. Dams revealed that he has received ‘hundreds of abusing and threatening messages’ since voicing opposition to the policy, with some so serious they have been reported to the police.
Andree Frieze, a former councillor and transport policy officer for the Green group at City Hall, also quit the party, citing similar concerns. Significantly, Frieze said Greens for Palestine, the organisation behind the motion and its success, was ‘relatively new’ and ‘extremely well-organised’.
An intervention from Washington is unlikely to trouble Greens for Palestine
Naturally, the terminally online Green leader has only doubled down in the wake of backlash to the policy. Earlier this morning he was busy liking tweets telling people who oppose the zionism is Racism motion: ‘sometimes things don’t go your way’ and ‘to move on’.
An intervention from Washington is unlikely to trouble Greens for Palestine – indeed it will only harden the resolve of those behind the policy. But it is also another indication of the reputational consequences Britain faces as political movements associated with hard-left and Islamist causes gain greater prominence.
A rebuke from Kaploun may be treated as a badge of honour by the Greens’ radical activists. For those outside that faction, however, it is a reminder that domestic political gestures can carry international consequences – including for Britain’s reputation and its relationships with allies.
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