Opinion: Zack Polanski had a chance to show leadership on the anti-Zionism debate

A Guardian opinion column by Rafael Behr argues that Green Party leader Zack Polanski has struggled to assert control over a toxic internal debate concerning anti-Zionism, leaving him appearing more like a passenger than a leader within the movement that brought him to prominence.

The column draws a contrast in how terms like socialism and Zionism are used and contested across the political spectrum, noting that critics of an idea rarely define it in the same terms as its proponents, which complicates debates where the language itself is disputed.

It references how US President Donald Trump has characterized socialism, contrasting this with how New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, frames the term as a project of equitable distribution of wealth and opportunity.

The author applies a similar observation to the debate over Zionism and anti-Zionism within parts of the British left, suggesting that, as with socialism, sharply opposed camps tend to describe the same term in incompatible ways.

As an opinion piece, the column reflects the views of its author, Rafael Behr, a Guardian columnist, rather than a straight news report on Polanski's leadership.