- Green Party leader Zack Polanski has sparked fresh controversy by stating in an interview with ITV's Robert Peston that he does not believe any country has a 'right to exist', including Israel, arguing that only 'people have a right to exist'.
- Polanski claimed that 'semantics about whether a country has a right to exist' are at the root of the current Israel-Palestinian conflict, which he described as a 'genocidal apartheid state' over its war on Gaza.
- He linked his argument to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which promised a 'national home' for Jewish people and is seen as paving the way for Israel's creation and the displacement of Palestinians.
- Polanski's comments come after a period of plummeting poll ratings, following his criticism of police treatment of a suspect accused of stabbing two Jewish men and his false claim of having been a 'spokesman' for the British Red Cross.
- Robert Peston challenged Polanski, suggesting his stance implied Britain also lacked a right to exist, which Polanski did not refute, instead focusing on the concept of 'colonial gatekeeping' and the British Mandate in Palestine.
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