Britain's Green Party votes to class Zionism as a form of racism

Britain's Green Party voted on Sunday to class Zionism as a form of racism, drawing criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government which said it now viewed ‌the party as "a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism". The party – which received 6% of the vote in national elections in 2024 – said it regarded Zionism as "an ethnonationalist political project" and repeated its call for Britain's Labour government to end all arms trade with Israel.

"The motion also restates the Green Party's backing for the right to self-determination and calls for the ‌establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine," the party said in a statement. The definition of Zionism – which inspired the foundation of the modern state of Israel ‌in the 20th century – and what it implies for the rights of non-Jews in Israel and neighbouring territory, is contentious. Jewish groups sometimes define it as a right to Jewish self-determination.

The Green Party motion passed by a majority of 1,022 to 813 despite opposition from many senior figures. Party leader Zack Polanski, who is seeking election to Parliament on Thursday in former Prime Minister Keir Starmer's now-vacant London constituency, did not ⁠vote. The result ​was condemned by British Jewish groups.

"The Green ⁠Party has made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party," the Movement for Progressive Judaism said, adding that the support of some Jews for the motion did not mean it would not be used ⁠to discriminate against others. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar has decided to declare Polanski barred from entering Israel, the foreign ministry said in a post on X Sunday.

It said the Green Party ​motion "constitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition, as it denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination," the ministry said. Mothin Ali, deputy ⁠leader of the Green Party and a supporter of the motion, told Sky News on Saturday that the heavy Palestinian death toll in Israel's conflict with Hamas – which followed the Palestinian militant group's deadly 2023 attack ⁠on an ​Israeli music festival – was the key context for the vote.

"The motion defines Zionism quite clearly. It defines it as an ethnonationalist movement. It defines it as ethnic cleansing. It defines it as genocide," Ali said. Britain's government views Israeli settlers' actions in the West Bank as amounting to ethnic cleansing but has said courts must decide if ⁠other Israeli actions qualify as genocide.

Israel – which rejects claims of ethnic cleansing and genocide – called on Sunday for other British political parties to condemn the Green Party vote. "The ⁠Greens have adopted not only the green ⁠of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle," it said. Polanski and other senior Green Party figures said they would "continue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government," and that "there is no conflict between ‌supporting the rights of Palestinians ‌and the rights of Jewish people."