Green councillor who give up over ‘deplorable’ Israel tweets made a mayor

The Green Party has elected a councillor who made a series of inflammatory social media comments about Israel and Jews to be a mayor, MailOnline can reveal.

Martin Butcher was confirmed as the ceremonial mayor of the town of Ware, in Hertfordshire, last night, having been elected by the Green-controlled council.

But his appointment comes little more than six months after he resigned as chairman of East Herts Council to sit as an independent following complaints about series of X posts he made following Hamas’s terror attack on October 7 and the subsequent invasion of Gaza.

In one post Mr Butcher, who works for Oxfam as an adviser on conflict and  international humanitarian law criticised his own party for a ‘one-sided attitude’ towards the conflict. He criticised it for condemning Hamas‘s attack without the same treatment for ‘Israel’s murder of civilians’.

He also hit out at Ukraine‘s president Volodymyr Zelensky – who is Jewish – for showing solidarity with Israel, saying he should be ‘against the belligerent occupation of other people’s land’.

MailOnline can also reveal he had previously made other distasteful comments about Jews. In March 2023 he suggested three British Jewish women – including a teenage girl – who were shot dead in the occupied West Bank were war criminals.

Replying to Jewish actress Tracy Anne Oberman on Twitter he suggested Lucy Dee, 48, Rina Dee, 15, and Maia Dee, 20, ‘had no right to be where they were when they were gunned down.

The Green Party today said it ‘respected’ the decision to elect him as mayor and said it welcomed ‘elected representatives, members and supporters highlighting the serious violations of International Humanitarian Law by both Hamas and the Israeli government.’

Martin Butcher quit as leader of East Herts Council and the Greens in October over a series of X posts following Hamas’s terror attack on October 7 and the subsequent invasion of Gaza. But last night he was elected as the Green Party mayor of the town of Ware, near Hertford, having been elected by the town council, which is controlled by his party.

Lucy Dee, 48, left, died as a result of her injuries following the drive-by shooting, three days after her daughters Rina (centre) and Maia (right) were killed in the attack in March 2023.

Replying to Jewish actress Tracy Anne Oberman on Twitter he suggested they were war criminals who ‘had no right to be where they were’.

Mr Butcher has sat as an independent on East Herts Council since resigning from the Green group in October…

… but he is still a Green Party councillor on Ware Town Council, which has just elected him mayor for the coming year

Ware Town Council confirmed Mr Butcher had been elected mayor at an annual meeting last night, having served for a year as deputy mayor. Nine of the council’s 11 councillors are from the Greens, according to its website.

Mr Butcher was also part of a minority Green administration leading the local district council in a power-sharing deal with the Lib-Dems until his social media posts were brought to light in October.

He stepped down to sit as an independent and is still listed as such on the district council website. 

At the time, local Conservative MP Julie Marson made a complaint to the council leader, Green councillor Ben Crystall, saying Butcher ‘appeared to promote and approve of Hamas’ actions on two Twitter/X feeds’. But it was not upheld and she alleged Green councillors accused her of ‘playing the anti-Semitism card’.

Speaking at the time Ms Marson said: ‘The Council concluded that Cllr Butcher was not acting in his role as a local councillor when making these tweets. 

‘With his party affiliation, chain of office and council positions clearly visible on his account profiles at the time, I am unsure how much clearer Cllr Butcher would have to have made the fact that he was both a councillor and Chairman of the Council before East Herts Council deemed that he was speaking on behalf of the Council’s leadership.’

‘I know the disappointment I feel is shared among our community. The Council’s leadership has shown weakness throughout this episode, failing to respond appropriately to the hurt our Jewish community in particular is feeling. I hope they reflect on the precedent they have now set.’ 

At the time, local Conservative MP Julie Marson made a complaint to the council leader, Green councillor Ben Crystall, saying Butcher ‘appeared to promote and approve of Hamas’ actions on two Twitter/X feeds’.

But it was not upheld and she alleged Green councillors accused her of ‘playing the anti-Semitism card’.

MailOnline has approached Mr Butcher to comment this afternoon. 

A Green Party spokesman said: ‘Councillor Butcher stood down from the Green Group on East Hertfordshire District Council. However, he did not resign from the Green Party and continues as a Green representative on Ware Town Council.

‘We welcome elected representatives, members and supporters highlighting the serious violations of International Humanitarian Law by both Hamas and the Israeli government. Mr Butcher made clear back in October last year his unequivocal support for an immediate end to the violence in Israel and Palestine and the importance of a permanent and peaceful resolution that safeguards the lives of all innocent civilians.

‘The councillors of Ware have chosen Martin Butcher to be the Town mayor and we respect their decision.’

But it comes as the party is at the centre of a wider scandal about the views of some of its elected councillors towards the fighting in Gaza.

Jewish leaders last week demanded that a councillor be suspended after claiming Hamas ‘had a right to fight back’ against Israel.

Mothin Ali had branded Israelis as ‘white supremacists’ after the Palestinian terror group killed 1,160 people in devastating cross border raids from Gaza on October 7, last year.

The 42-year-old said Israel had tried to ‘erase the legitimacy of a native population’ and claimed ‘they [Israelis] are not victims, they are occupiers’ in videos posted on social media.

The father-of-three had claimed his election victory in the Gipton and Harehills ward on Leeds City Council was a ‘win for the people of Gaza’ – a territory he has previously called a ‘concentration camp’.

He is now being investigated by the Green Party over his ‘concerning’ views, while British Jewish leaders called for him to be suspended for spreading ‘extremist nonsense’.

Jewish leaders last week demanded that a councillor be suspended after claiming Hamas ‘had a right to fight back’ against Israel. Mothin Ali had branded Israelis as ‘white supremacists’ after the Palestinian terror group killed 1,160 people in devastating cross border raids from Gaza on October 7, last year.