UK Green Party Votes 1,022 to 813 to Declare Zionism a Form of Racism

Britain’s Green Party has voted to declare Zionism a form of racism, after the UK Green Party Zionism vote passed by 1,022 votes to 813 at the party’s annual conference in Brighton on Sunday.

The motion declares the Greens an “anti-Zionist party”, defines Zionism as an ideology backing “an ethnonationalist Jewish state”, and says its “real, material, manifestation” has been the “dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians”. It also commits the party to a “single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital”.

UK Green Party Zionism vote exposes deep split at the top

Party leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, did not take part in the vote. He left Brighton after his Friday speech to campaign for Thursday’s by-election in Holborn and St Pancras, the seat once held by Keir Starmer. He said he believed Zionism, as defined in the motion, was racism, but he wanted amendments including one calling for equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians.

The party’s two deputy leaders were on opposite sides. Mothin Ali backed the motion, while Rachel Millward described its wording as “problematic”. An amendment supported by Polanski to make clear the motion should not be used to discipline Jewish members over their affiliation to synagogues that describe themselves as Zionist was voted down by 1,026 votes to 684.

Four of the party’s five MPs, Ellie Chowns, Sian Berry, Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer, publicly opposed the motion, as did former leader Caroline Lucas, who called it “divisive”.

Former councillor Salma Yaqoob insisted the vote would not lead to expulsions. “We’re saying that if you want to champion Zionism, it will be called out as racism,” she said. “But, no, this is not a disciplinary issue.”

Fierce condemnation from Jewish groups and Israel

The vote drew immediate condemnation. The Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust had warned beforehand it would make the Greens the first electorally significant UK party in living memory to adopt an overtly antisemitic platform. Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy called the motion “antisemitic in its formulation and intention”, while Israel’s foreign ministry accused the party of giving “legitimacy to terrorism”.

The Conservatives called the party “toxic to its core”. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “British Jews should not have to disclaim a belief in Jewish self-determination and the existence of Israel in order to be accepted by a British political party.”

Afterwards, Polanski and the five MPs released a joint statement saying there was “no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people”, pledging to uphold universal human rights and oppose “genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and the illegal occupation”. The party also repeated its demand for an end to arms sales to the Israeli government.

What the motion changes in practice

A party spokesperson said the motion would be implemented by the anti-racism policy working group, but stressed it would have no “material impact on governance or disciplinary procedures”. The motion had been due at the spring conference but was never debated after no-confidence votes delayed proceedings. Attention now turns to Thursday’s by-election, where Polanski is campaigning for a Westminster seat.

Frequently asked questions

What did the Green Party vote on at its Brighton conference?

Members voted on a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism. It passed by 1,022 votes to 813, making the party officially “anti-Zionist” and committing it to supporting a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine.

Did Zack Polanski vote for the motion?

No. The Green Party leader, who is Jewish, did not take part because he had left the conference to campaign in Thursday’s Holborn and St Pancras by-election. He said he believed Zionism as defined in the motion was racism, but he had sought amendments to its wording.

Will Zionists be expelled from the Green Party?

The party says the motion has no material impact on governance or disciplinary procedures. Former councillor Salma Yaqoob said nobody would be removed, challenged, disciplined or suspended for articulating a belief in Zionism.