A diplomatic and political firestorm has erupted between Israel and the UK Green Party of England and Wales after the party’s membership approved a divisive conference motion that formally labels Zionism as a form of racism, prompting Israel to immediately bar the party’s leader from entry to the country.
The contentious vote, held at the party’s annual conference in Brighton over the weekend, marked a historic turning point: the Green Party became the first major mainstream UK political party to officially adopt the framing of Zionism as racism, while also backing a one-state solution for historic Palestine that guarantees equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups, rejecting the long-debated two-state framework. When final votes were counted, 1,022 party members supported the motion, while 813 voted against it.
In response to the vote, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal statement Sunday condemning the resolution, arguing it meets the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism by rejecting the Jewish people’s right to self-determination. The statement added that the motion effectively legitimizes calls for the destruction of the sovereign State of Israel. As an immediate first step, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar issued an order barring Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israeli territory.
Under Israel’s foundational Law of Return, any individual with at least one Jewish grandparent and their spouse holds an automatic legal right to enter, settle in, and obtain Israeli citizenship. However, Israeli authorities have long exercised the power to ban entry to individuals, including Jewish people, deemed to pose a security risk or question the state’s legitimacy—a policy that has disproportionately targeted political opponents of Israeli government policy in practice.
Internal divisions within the Green Party were laid bare by the vote. Co-deputy leader Mothin Ali, a prominent supporter of the motion, told Middle East Eye that Zionism amounts to an ethno-nationalist ideology that has enabled ethnic cleansing and the entrenchment of belief in the superiority of one group over others. The party’s sitting Green MPs, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, publicly criticized the measure, aligning with a bloc of opposing members. Following the vote’s passage, all five sitting Green MPs released a joint statement emphasizing that they would never accept any form of discrimination or harassment, adding that support for Palestinian rights does not need to come at the cost of rejecting the rights of Jewish people.
Members rejected an amendment that would have protected party members from internal disciplinary action for their affiliation to Zionist-aligned Jewish community institutions, including synagogues and community centers, or for holding pro-Zionist views that would not be penalized if expressed by non-Jewish members. In a shift that reflected the party’s pro-Palestinian positioning, delegates did approve a separate amendment affirming Palestinians’ inalienable right to self-determination, according to party insiders who spoke to Middle East Eye. As of Sunday morning, party spokespeople declined to confirm whether Polanski personally supported the unamended motion.