The Green Party of England and Wales has formally adopted a policy equating Zionism with racism, despite opposition from four of the party’s five MPs and concern among some Jewish members.
The motion, titled “Zionism is racism," was approved Sunday at the party’s annual conference in Brighton by 1,022 votes to 813. It calls for Zionism, defined as the movement supporting a Jewish state, to be “treated as any other form of racism."
The newly adopted policy also calls for replacing Israel with a single Palestinian state “with equal rights for all."
Several amendments were considered before the main vote. An amendment requiring other elements of Green Party policy to be updated to reflect the new position was approved. Three others were rejected, including one stating that the policy should not be used to “pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions."
The motion was promoted by Greens for Palestine, a group that encouraged non-members to join the party in order to ensure the policy was debated and adopted.
The motion argues that Zionism is inherently racist because it “privileges one ethnic group on the basis of the subjugation of others." It says its target is the “political ideology and practice of Zionism" rather than the religious or ethnic identity of people who identify as Zionists, noting that “not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews."
Some Jewish Greens have privately expressed concern that the policy could make it difficult for them to remain in the party.
A poll conducted by Jewish Greens found that members were divided over whether to oppose the motion, while 81% said they did not identify as Zionists. The group is expected to issue a public response after consulting its members.
The decision has also caused unease among senior figures in the party, with some believing leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, should have taken a stronger position against the motion.
Polanski did not attend the vote because he was campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras, where he is standing in a parliamentary by-election next week. He has defended the motion's argument by pointing to the Palestinian death toll during Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
Asked by the BBC on Saturday whether he believed Zionism was racist, Polanski said: “Well, in the motion, it is defined as the displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people. I think that is clearly racism."
Four of the party’s five MPs have opposed the motion, as has former Green leader Caroline Lucas, the party’s first MP.
Former co-leader Adrian Ramsay said he would vote against it because the motion prescribed what a future Palestinian state should look like without adequately considering the self-determination of both Israelis and Palestinians. MP Siân Berry raised similar concerns.
Carla Denyer, the Bristol Central MP who previously co-led the party with Ramsay, warned that the wording “risks alienating a significant proportion of Jewish people, including those who vehemently disagree with the Israeli government."
Ellie Chowns, another Green MP, said the motion “risks fuelling division" and could undermine the party’s ability to campaign effectively for justice and peace.
“Zionism is a contested concept with no single definition," Chowns said. “If this motion passes, the party risks alienating many people, including in Jewish communities. Defining a highly personal and variable identity simply as racism risks reinforcing exactly the zero-sum politics we desperately need to get beyond."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded sharply to the decision, saying that "the Green Party in Britain has stopped functioning today as a political party and has turned into a terror-supporting entity." The ministry also said that "the Greens have officially adopted Hamas’s green flag and its ideological platform calling for the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle."
The ministry added, "The shocking decision adopted today by the Green Party, which legitimizes armed struggle, calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state from the sea to the river, in effect for the destruction of the State of Israel, and equates Zionism with racism. It is no longer a political text. This is a text that crosses the boundaries of political discourse, and as long as it is not removed, it constitutes a stain on the history of the United Kingdom."
In Israel, calls were made for British parties to distance themselves from the decision, with an explicit appeal to the governing party. "All parties in Britain, and first and foremost the Labour Party, must immediately and unequivocally reject this distorted text."