Ali said: “that’s the only way I can describe him politely, is someone who went from Leeds to Israel to kill children and women and everyone else over there.”
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Deutsch lamented Ali’s behaviour and his subsequent election as deputy leader of the Green Party.
Zecharia & Nava Deutsch (Photo: Jewish Chaplaincy)[Missing Credit]
“Mothin Ali’s actions personally caused harm and distress to my family. His social media posts had a really significant impact on the Leeds community. I’m surprised and concerned that he has been elevated to a senior position in the Green Party.
“It’s very concerning that he is gaining power. A man who wants to be a public figure should not incite division and cause harm”, he told the paper.
Ali gained national attention when he defeated Labour in local election in May last year.
He dedicated his victory to “the people of Gaza” and was filmed shouting “Allahu Akbar” while standing in front of the Palestinian flag shortly after the result was announced.
He previously apologised for the language he used on social media relating to Israel and the conflict in Gaza. On October 7, he hailed the end of "white supremacist European settler colonialism” in one post.
Contacted by the Sunday Times, he said he was “a plain-speaking Yorkshireman who calls it as it is. I have young children, so I can’t help but be moved when I see other children being massacred daily. Although the wording was clumsy, I will still call out anyone choosing to travel to join the IDF.”
Although Green Party leader Zack Polanski said that the language used by his deputy was “not appropriate”, he also appeared to criticise Deutsch for his service in the IDF, telling the paper that the Rabbi “needs to be searching his conscience far more than Mothin”.
Jewish figures have criticised the Green Party for their election of Ali despite his controversial comments.
Last month, Jewish Labour grandee Dame Louise Ellman told the JC that it was “deeply disturbing that the Green Party should have elected as their deputy leader somebody who, within hours of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, chose to blame the victims not the perpetrators.”
She went on to say that his election “shows how out of touch the Green Party is with the values of the British people and how utterly unfit it is to hold any position of responsibility in our country.”
The Green Party has been contacted for comment.
