- Green Party votes 1,022 to 813 to define Zionism as racism
- Israel bars party leader Zack Polanski from entering the country
- Jewish groups warn of risk to safety of British Jews
- At least three of five Green MPs opposed the motion
ISRAEL has barred Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering the country after his party voted to define Zionism as racism at its annual conference on Sunday.
Members backed the motion by 1,022 votes to 813. It states that Zionism should be "treated as any other form of racism" and commits the party to supporting a "single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine".
Israel's foreign ministry described the resolution as "a clear antisemitic text" and said on Sunday evening that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar was banning Polanski from entering Israel.
"This has been a serious and deeply felt debate within our membership," a Green Party spokesperson said.
Jewish groups raise safety concerns
Ahead of the vote, the heads of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council wrote to the party urging members to reject the motion.
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"This motion would make the Green Party the first electorally significant UK political party in living memory to adopt what appears to be an overtly antisemitic political platform," they said in the letter.
"We also emphasised the implications for the safety and welfare of all British Jews."
Condemnation from Israel and Labour
Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, called the decision "a disgrace".
"Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, and it forms the basis for the Jewish people's right to a state and a national home in the Land of Israel," he said on X.
Bridget Phillipson, Labour Party chair and minister for women and equalities, also condemned the vote.
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"It is shameful to vote against a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and to condemn the vast majority of British Jews and Jews around the world as racist for supporting Israel's right to exist," she said in a party statement.
Divisions within the party
The motion exposed divisions among the Greens. Polanski, who is standing for parliament in former prime minister Keir Starmer's London constituency, did not take part in the vote, and at least three of the party's five MPs opposed the motion.
Earlier in the week, however, Polanski said the "displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people" was "clearly racism".
United Nations investigators have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel rejects.
The Greens have risen in popularity under Polanski, attracting voters unhappy with the Labour government's stance on the Israel-Hamas war, and have made gains in recent local elections and by-elections. Polls show Polanski's own popularity has fallen in recent months following several missteps.
(With inputs from agencies)
