The “golden rule” is that rabbis should not use the pulpit to engage in party politics. Yes, we can talk about political issues – be it immigration policy, the growth of food banks, or sanctions against the West Bank – some of which may happen to coincide with the views of one party, but we cannot promote a particular party per se. That would be an abuse of our position.
Virtually all rabbis observe this, whatever denomination to which they belong, either because they feel it is the 614th Commandment, or because they fear the backlash if they do back one party and antagonise all members of the congregation who support other ones.
However, there are times when exceptions can be necessary. One example was in the 2019 general election when the Jewish Chronicle publicised on their front page that I urged people to vote for any party in their constituency that was most likely to defeat Corbyn’s Labour Party because of its antisemitic associations.
What was fascinating was the reaction. I received an astonishing number of emails and letters from members of the Jewish public expressing support, but largely stony silence and even some condemnation from fellow rabbis. They were worried that they might now be expected to take a position too. To give him credit, the Chief Rabbi did speak out a week later.
I honestly thought that I would never breach the rule again… until now.
Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as an MP means that a by-election is being held in his constituency of Holborn and St Pancras and one of the parties contesting the seat seems to have developed antisemitic associations: the Greens.
Antisemitism is certainly not part of its manifesto, and although it is possible to have antisemitic Jews, I would not accuse its candidate and leader, Zack Polanski, of being one.
Yet under Polanski’s leadership, the Greens have changed from concentrating on environmental issues to focusing on Israel. They seem more concerned with events in Gaza than local pollution.
Polanski, inadvertently or not, has helped create an atmosphere in which Jews feel targeted if they show any support for Israel, even if they back the two-state solution and deplore settler violence. Supporting the right of Israel to exist is enough to make them villains.
This has been seen in the decision not to allow Standing Together to be present at the Green’s national conference, despite it advocating Arab-Israeli harmony. It works for Israeli-Palestinian peace, equality and social justice, and is the largest Arab-Jewish grassroots movement in the country. What is wrong with that, Zack?
Then there was the decision of Hackney council, controlled by the Greens, to undo the twinning with Haifa – a city renowned for its efforts at Arab-Israeli co-operation over many decades. Such a move is beyond astonishing. Maybe it challenges the Green view that there is nothing good in Israel?
The Polanski Greens are showing an uncanny and disturbing parallel with the popularism of Corbyn’s Labour. Perhaps it is no surprise that the party has attracted many former Corbynistas to its ranks.
Once again, Jews feel they are in the firing line of a major political party and this time it is the Greens. It may not be deliberate, but it is certainly very real.
This has been reinforced by the vote at the party conference to label Zionism as racism, which is based on a bizarre genocidal definition of Zionism that defies reality and just shrieks out hatred for anything to do with Israel, and by extension most Jews.
The Green Party of Zack Polanski is very different from the Green Party of Caroline Lucas, and Jews are finding it increasingly toxic. That should be a warning to all voters, whatever faith or background they may have. The way a party treats Jews has always been a barometer of the moral health of the country. A vote for the Greens does not bode well for social cohesion in Britain as a whole.
After Starmer had done so much to purge Labour of antisemitic tendencies, it would be a terrible irony if his seat was to fall to the Greens and lead to a resurgence of it.
It would also seep into the country at large at the very time when we need to work for a society less divided and more at ease with itself.
Reluctantly, therefore, I feel the need to break the “golden rule” and urge voters to vote for anyone but the Polanski Green Party. In fact, tactical voting may be appropriate bearing in mind that a council election in Dover recently saw the Greens win with 29 per cent of the vote, while 59 per cent was split between three other main parties.
Of course there are also issues about Restore’s rhetoric, while some may consider aspects of Reform UK not compliant with Jewish values, but they are of a different order and the latter has an active Jewish Alliance within it.
We must not let Polanski slip into the Commons because voters did not spot the larger issue of antisemitism and were divided over other matters.
It may be only a by-election, but it has the power to end or enhance the current Green momentum, so we should take it very seriously.
Jonathan Romain is author of Confessions of a Rabbi’ (Biteback)
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