Green Party leader Zack Polanski was grilled on ITV’s Peston show about Israel’s right to exist.
Polanski’s reply that he believes that people have the right to exist rather than nation-states was not revolutionary; it has been explained by people like Francesca Albanese and Moncef Khane.
However, Polanski had already rattled his pro-Israel interviewer, who was an eager participant in the ‘Labour antisemitism’ smear scam against Jeremy Corbyn, by pointing out the unfairness of comparing him to Farage was has a £5 million crypto donation.
Peston then proceeded to ask him about Israel’s right to exist, to which Zack replied:
I don’t believe any country has a right to exist. People have a right to exist.
Polanski’s posture on Israel reflects that of international law.
Polanski is on solid ground
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As the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese has pointed out. She said in a press conference in Ottawa, Canada, in November 2024 that:
The state of Israel is there, it’s protected as a member of the United Nations. Does this justify the erasure of another people? Hell no. Not 75 years ago, not 57 years ago, surely not today.
She also said:
Besides this, there is no such thing as international law, like a right of a state to exist. Does Italy have a right to exist? Italy exists. Now if tomorrow, Italy and France want to merge to become Itafrance, fine, this is not up to us. What is ENSHRINED in international law is the right of a people to exist.
In a November 2024 article for Al Jazeera, former UN official Moncef Khane made a similar argument:
To begin, the idea of a state’s inherent “right to exist” is fallacious. Conceptually or legally, no such natural or legal right exists – for Israel or any other state – as the establishment of nation-states is not rooted in international law. Nation-states are the outcome of, ultimately, a proclamation by those purporting to represent the newly formed state.
Once declared, the new state and its government may (or may not) be formally recognised by other states and governments.
He concluded by arguing that no amount of political repetition can override international law. States have no inherent right to exist, but oppressed peoples have a clear right to defend themselves against occupation.
Media hits
The media assault on Polanski has accelerated as local elections signal a big Green surge.
Peston’s hostility towards Polanski was on display when Peston claimed that we cannot boycott Israel because it is a democracy. Polanski had said he endorsed a “general boycott of Israeli sports teams” in “the same way we have with Russia”.
Polanski started to explain how the Flotilla participants were not treated as any democracy would treat a person. However, he was not able to finish his sentence before Peston cut him off and said that it was “time.”
Of course, Israel’s right to existence line of questioning from Peston got his mainstream media colleagues all hot and bothered too.
Ghoulish Hartley-Brewer replied to Peston’s X post by saying:
Does France have a right to exist?
Clearly showing she had not even bothered to hear Polanski out.
Does France have a right to exist? https://t.co/25QzmX1Ati
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) May 6, 2026
Polanski’s point – echoed by a UN Special Rapporteur and a former UN official – is precise and legally sound. States are political creations, not living beings.
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