Fury as Greens leader Zack Polanski suggests cops were too heavy-handed apprehending ‘terrorist’ on antisemitic rampage
GREEN Party leader Zack Polanski has been slammed for appearing to criticise the police who detained the alleged Golders Green attacker.
The left-winger retweeted a post condemning the cops for kicking the suspect in the head when he refused to drop his weapon.
Zack Polanski appeared to criticise the cops who took down the alleged Golders Green attackerCredit: Getty
Footage shows the officers tasering the suspect and kicking him as he refused to drop his weapon
Yesterday’s alleged assailant has been confirmed as a 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia and came to the UK as a child.
Met boss Sir Mark Rowley said he has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and has a history of mental illness.
Scotland Yard has praised its “brave” officers for tackling the suspect and released footage of them taking him down using a Taser.
But Mr Polanski reposted an X comment that said: “So essentially his officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by a Taser.”
Yesterday’s alleged assailant has been confirmed as a 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia
The apparent endorsement sparked fury this morning and accusations the Green boss was “more concerned” with the suspected terrorist’s wellbeing.
Home Office minister Mike Tapp said: “I’m disgusted that anyone with this view is leading any political party. The Green Party has hit a new low.”
Labour MP David Taylor said: “Zack Polanski’s sympathy for an alleged marauding antisemitic terrorist rather than his victims shows why his Green Party is so dangerous.
“How can anyone watch that video from Golders Green and not feel proud of the way those brave police officers wrestled with the suspect who would not let go of his knife?
“Those officers deserve a medal. They put all regard to their own safety aside to protect the public.
“They had no idea whether the man had a bomb in his backpack or not. Yet Polanski thinks they were too tough. Whose side is he on?”
Fellow Labour backbencher Jonathan Hinder, a former police officer, added: “This is so telling. Polanski hates the brave police officers who stopped this.
“He’s more concerned about the alleged antisemitic terrorist with a knife in his hand!”
Tory MP Neil O’Brien blasted: “As usual, the Greens’ sympathies are with the alleged terrorist rather than the brave police officers stopping him.”
The Green Party has been contacted for comment.
Mr Polanski, who is Jewish, was already under fire for remarks about the British Jewish community’s “perception of unsafety”.
In his statement yesterday he said: “Thinking of the victims, their families and everyone who will once again be shaken by this attack. Thank you to all of those involved with the emergency response.”
Following yesterday’s double-stabbing in North London, Jewish leaders tore into politicians and police for the spike in antisemitic attacks – warning that “words of condemnation are no longer sufficient”.
Both the Met boss and a Labour minister were heckled by chants of “shame on you” as they visited the site of yesterday’s Golders Green knife rampage.
The terror stabbing sparked calls for action – including demands to ban pro-Palestine marches – to tackle what experts branded the “biggest national emergency since Covid”.
Israel blamed government policies “that embolden and legitimize Islamist elements” and accused ministers of “tolerating unchecked incitement”.
Its foreign ministry said: “The UK government can no longer claim this is under control. Enough words. The UK must act decisively and urgently.”
Sir Keir Starmer summoned a crisis COBRA meeting as his Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood vowed to “strain every sinew” to end the stain of anti-Semitism.
But local MP Sarah Sackman, a justice minister, and Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley were given a hostile reception at the scene.
Their TV interviews were drowned out by shouts from locals of “resign” and “shame on you”.
Antisemitic episodes have jumped in the two-and-a-half years since the October 7 Hamas invasion and Israel’s subsequent conflict in Gaza.
Ministers have been accused of failing to clamp down on expressions of antisemitism at the regular pro-Palestine rallies.
Stephen Silverman from the Campaign Against Antisemitism said last night: “The politicians who have had the ability to do something about it, such as the Prime Minister and Sadiq Khan, have done nothing.
“So when we listen to his words of concern and sympathy, our question to him is – what have you done to prevent this? How will you actually stop this? Can you even name the cause of it?
“I did not hear him mention the fact that this is all being driven by uncontrolled Islamist extremism in this country, fueled and supported by ideologues on the radical left”.
He said that politicians including those in the last Tory government have “a tremendous amount to answer for”.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the stabbing must be a reckoning that triggers “meaningful action”.
He said: “Following the antisemitic stabbing of two Jewish people on the streets of Golders Green this morning, words of condemnation are no longer sufficient.”
The Government’s terrorism tsar Jonathan Hall said the rise in antisemitism was “the biggest national emergency since Covid” as he called for a ban on anti-Israel demos.
He told Times Radio: “It pains me to say this, but I think we may have reached a point where we need to have a moratorium on the sorts of marches that have been happening.
“It’s clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of anti-Semitic or demonising language.”
It comes amid a sharp escalation in antisemitic attacks, with counterterror police already probing a string of arson incidents across north-west London in recent weeks.
Targets have included synagogues in Kenton and Finchley, a Jewish charity site in Hendon, and ambulances set alight in Golders Green, with officers investigating possible links to an Iran-backed network using criminal proxies.
It also follows last October’s Yom Kippur terror attack in Manchester, when a man rammed a car into worshippers before launching a knife rampage at a synagogue. Two Jewish men were killed while the attacker was shot dead by police.
This month the US Embassy in London issued a security alert warning of “recent attacks and threats” targeting Jewish and American institutions across the UK and Europe.
Citizens were urged to remain vigilant, particularly around places of worship, tourist hotspots and venues linked to Jewish or American communities.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who visited Golders Green yesterday, said: “Jewish people in our country are under constant attack. This is no longer a growing pattern.
“There is an epidemic of violence against Jewish people. It is now a national emergency and needs to be treated as such by the Government and public authorities.”
Sir Keir reacted to the incident within minutes of it being made public during Prime Minister’s Questions.He said the incident was “deeply concerning” to all MPs.
The PM added: “There is now a police investigation and I think we all need to do everything we can to support that investigation.”
He added that Ministers need to be “absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offences, the like of which we have seen too much recently”.
Ms Mahmood said: “We are already taking a large amount of action on security, on policing and on funding for protective security as well.
“We will go further as this situation develops and I will make sure that we are doing everything that we possibly can.
“But we are clear also that we as a Government need to respond to the wider societal issues that we are seeing, so that we’re straining every sinew to keep our community safe.”
Last month ministers announced £5million extra funding for specialist officers to guard vulnerable communities.
