UK Green Party said to probe dozens of council candidates over antisemitism

More than 30 under investigation, party introducing new fast-track system to handle cases, report says; Greens say number is only fraction of their 4,500 candidates; Jewish party leader has suggested PM Starmer is on ‘Zionist’ payroll

The United Kingdom’s Green Party is investigating over 30 local council candidates for alleged antisemitism, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday, the latest in a series of British media reports that week highlighting antisemitic and anti-Israeli rhetoric by party members, including from its Jewish leader, Zack Polanski.

The report came a day before local council elections are set to be held. A Green Party spokesman told the newspaper that cases are being looked into and that some candidates have already been suspended, but also dismissed the problematic members as only a small minority of those running for the party.

Vetting and selection of candidates is carried out by the Greens’ local parties, the report said.

The left-populist Green Party has seen major gains in recent months under its Israel-critical leader Polanski, who last week faced a backlash after retweeting a post criticizing police over how they arrested a knife-wielding attacker who seriously injured two Jewish men he stabbed in a Jewish neighborhood of London, and has supported claims that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is on a “Zionist” payroll.

Polanski’s party has faced mounting scrutiny over its candidates’ antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. Polanski, who last week also called for the UK to end diplomatic and trade ties with Israel, admitted during the selection process that vetting was a “real challenge” for the Greens, though he has since said he has confidence in “99 percent” of his candidates.

“There is a growing realization among early party members that this has gone too far and action had to be taken,” an unnamed Green Party source told the Mail.

The source said that the party has now launched a fast-track disciplinary system handled by members of its National Council, rather than using its established disciplinary committee, which can take months to process cases.

However, since the nomination deadline for the upcoming elections has passed, candidates’ names cannot be legally removed from ballots, even if their parties withdraw support or suspend them.

Some of those under investigation have been given “no-fault suspensions,” the report said.

However, some have reportedly continued to be active, including joining a Greens For Palestine event where party deputy leader Mothin Ali advised them to take legal action over how the party was dealing with suspensions.

According to the source, there is concern by some over Ali, too, as he posted to social media a defense of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, on the day it was carried out.

In examples given by the Mail, Feda Shahin, a candidate in Bournemouth, claimed that in the Soviet Union “the Zionists killed 20 million Christians” and that they “love genocide.”

Clarissa Astor, a candidate for Westminster, central London, claimed on social media that British police are “in the service of Zionism” and posted a picture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a Hitler moustache. She later apologized for and deleted the posts. Mark Bittlestone for Lambeth, south London, reportedly posted content suggesting the October 7 attack was a “false flag” operation by Israel and shared posts that called Israel a “colony of inbreds, rapists and thieves.” He also reposted remarks that said Israel has no right to exist.

And Ifhat Shaheen, a council candidate for Stoke Newington, north London, posted on the day of the Hamas attack that it was the Palestinians trying to “defend themselves.” She has also reposted claims that no women were raped despite UN findings of multiple instances of sexual violence.

She has also suggested in a social media post that Israel is harvesting organs from Arabs to try and alter the DNA of “Zionists to claim land.”

“We are standing over 4,500 candidates in these local elections, the vast majority of whom we are proud to have represent us,” a Green Party spokesman told the Mail. “Where there are examples brought to our attention that do not align with the values of the Green Party, we are looking into them, and in some cases candidates have already been suspended.”

On Tuesday, the UK’s Jewish Chronicle outlet also reported that 25 Green Party candidates have made antisemitic or extremist remarks, according to a file compiled by the ruling Labour Party.

Those included at least ten who downplayed or justified violence against Jews, the report said. Five of those had referred to some recent attacks as “false flag” operations carried out by Israel, including an arson attack last month that destroyed four ambulances operated by the Jewish volunteer Hatzolah emergency service in Golders Green.

In the wake of the ambulance attack, Shaheen reportedly reposted on X, “Since Golders Green is now in the news, I want to take the opportunity to make people aware that the Jewish community in North London host IDF soldiers in their synagogues and raise funds for the IDF during a ‘family fun day’.”

Also, according to the report, the Green candidate for Manor Park in Newham,  Rajeev Kumar, has referred to Jews as “devil worshippers” and last June posted to X, “I haven’t met a single person in my life who hates Jews, but I have met dozens of Jews continuously saying, ‘people hate us’. Now I think they know something about themselves that we don’t, and they fear hate because they know they should be hated for that.”

A day earlier, The Telegraph newspaper listed social media posts liked by Polanski, including one on the left-wing Bluesky network claiming that Starmer is receiving money from “Zionist philanthropists.” Polanski also liked a similar post by another userr and asked, “how much does Israel pay him?”

In response, a Green Party spokesman told The Telegraph that Polanski “makes no apology for highlighting the close relationship between Israel and the Labour Government, which has led to Labour and Keir Starmer arming and supporting a genocide, a bit more of an issue than liking some social media posts.”

According to the newspaper, Green Party candidate Raja Ateeq, who is seeking the Rushall-Shelfield ward in Walsall, in December 2023 — two months after the Hamas attack — posted on social media a reference to “Jewish cockroaches.”

Two other candidates have been charged with spreading hate online in relation to anti-Israel social media posts.

Polanski, who hopes to topple the Labour government’s power in local elections next week, has also accused Starmer of complicity in “the very obvious genocide in Gaza.”

The unnamed Green Party source panned Polanski for his campaign tactics.

“I think Polanski’s actions are all about his ego,” the source said. “He knows what he’s saying. But he’s getting caught out now, on both sides.”

“As well as those starting to raise the alarm about antisemitism, pro-Palestinians are questioning how much he is one of their kind of people,” the source said.

Agencies contributed to this report.