Green Party leader Zack Polanski has been branded an 'extremist' by the Israeli government in his response to the latest attack in Golders Green.
Mr Polanski was accused by Sharren Haskel, Israel's deputy foreign minister, of fuelling anti-Semitism in Britain after he shared a social media post which criticised the police officers who arrested the alleged Golders Green attacker this week.
Other posts saw the Green Party leader accuse his political opponents of using anti-Semitism as a 'political football' and that pro-Palestinian protests must be allowed to happen in the coming weeks.
He was forced to apologise for sharing the post following 24 hours of heavy criticism from the police, Jewish leaders and even senior figures in Mr Polanski's own party.
Ms Haskel said the apology was 'too little too late' and when asked if she agreed with an Israeli embassy source who had described Mr Polanski as an 'extremist', she responded: 'It is as simple as that.'
She continued: 'Him and his party are continuing this path of conspiracy theories and hatred towards Jews and towards the Jewish community and towards British Jewish citizens.'
The social media post shared by Mr Polanski condemned Metropolitan Police officers who disarmed and detained the suspect in Golders Green after Wednesday's double stabbing.
He shared a post on X which claimed the two officers were 'violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head'.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski was forced to apologise after he shared a social media post which criticised the police officers who arrested the alleged Golders Green attacker this week.
Mr Polanski was accused by Sharren Haskel, Israel's deputy foreign minister, (pictured) of fuelling anti-Semitism in Britain
Polanski retweeted a post suggesting hero policemen who disarmed the Golders Green terrorist were heavy handed
The intervention drew a rare rebuke from Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, who accused Mr Polanski of spreading 'misinformed' rhetoric about the dangerous operation to tackle an armed terrorist suspect.
In a brief statement late yesterday, the Green Party leader apologised for 'sharing a tweet in haste' and added that social media was 'not the appropriate channel' for commenting on police actions.
He wrote: 'Everyone in leadership has a responsibility for lowering the temperature at a time of such tension, and I apologise for sharing a tweet in haste.
'Police responses to emergency situations such as these do need later reflection in the right forums, but I accept that social media is not the appropriate channel for doing so. I have invited Mark Rowley to meet with me to discuss the police response and the wider issues raised in his letter.'
However, Ms Haskel said: 'Sometimes an apology is too little, too late, especially when it comes to Polanski. When you choose to legitimise violence against Jews, you don't just make a mistake – you cross a moral line that should never be crossed.
'It normalises hatred, emboldens others, and corrodes the standards that hold a society together. And once that line is breached, it cannot simply be undone with a few words of regret: you risk spending the rest of your life apologising for it.'
Speaking on GB News, Ms Haskel said: 'I have a message to the Jewish community: immigrate to Israel. Come to a place where we can actually protect you, or you can protect yourself,' as she accused the UK Government of not doing 'enough in order to protect and defend' that community.
Keir Starmer branded Mr Polanski 'disgraceful' in an interview for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, recorded before Mr Polanski's apology. The PM said he was 'not fit to lead any political party'.
Defending the actions of the police, Sir Keir added: 'You have to make a decision in that split moment according to the situation as you understand it to be.
'For politicians to wade in, as Zack Polanski did, is disgraceful. He's not fit to lead any political party.'
On Thursday morning, two Green Party candidates were arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred after allegedly posting anti-Semitic comments online.
The posts allegedly included messages such as 'England has a government overrepresented with Zionists Jews' and 'Ramming a synagogue isn't anti-Semitism. It's revenge.'
Mr Polanski told Israeli paper Haaretz on April 22 that, while he is worried about the rise in anti-Semitic attacks, the concerns about the risk level may be overblown.
‘We saw arson attacks on ambulances, we know that increasingly Jewish communities are feeling unsafe,’ he said.
‘There‘s a conversation to be had about whether it‘s a perception of unsafety or whether it's actual unsafety, but neither is acceptable.‘
Ms Haskel claimed that his statements are 'endangering the Jewish community more'.
She said: 'They are not taking anti-Semitism as a serious disease, as a serious problem. They are part of the problem, instead of any kind of solution or calming effect to the matter.'
'The Green Party has a serious, serious racist problem within its own party,' Ms Haskel added.
A Green Party spokesperson said: 'The Green Party is appalled by the attacks in Golders Green and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community.
'Our leader, Zack Polanski, has been clear that British politicians must work together to protect Jewish people, and that these horrific attacks must not be used as a political football.
'It is deeply irresponsible for the Israeli government to interfere in the internal affairs of a foreign country during an election period.
'The Green Party unequivocally opposes the genocide being carried out by the Israeli government in Gaza, illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, and Israel's assault on Lebanon. We have also spoken out against the joint US-Israel attacks on Iran.'