UK’s Green Party declares ‘Zionism is racism,’ calls for Palestine to replace Israel

Resolution claims Zionism privileges one group while subjugating others; some Green MPs come out against move; Israel accuses party of legitimizing terrorists

By Lazar Berman
  • Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
 4 October 2026, 9:01 pm
Britain’s leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski poses with supporters after speaking at a rally in a park in south London, on June 24, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/ AFP)

The Green Party of England and Wales on Sunday adopted a resolution equating Zionism with racism, while effectively calling for the erasure of Israel as a Jewish state, at the party’s annual convention in Brighton.

The move, which called for Zionism to be “treated as any other form of racism,” and for a Palestinian state in place of Israel “with equal rights for all,” passed 1,022 to 813.

The motion claimed that Zionism “privileges one ethnic group on the basis of the subjugation of others.”

“This motion is aimed at the political ideology and practice of Zionism, as defined, and not at the religious or ethnic background of those who may identify as Zionists. Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews,” it said.

“Zionism, as defined above, will be treated as any other form of racism, and this motion will be implemented by the anti-racism policy working group as appropriate and in accordance with its ordinary practice,” the motion read.

Green Party chief Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, did not take part in the vote. He is the most prominent Jewish critic of Israel in mainstream UK politics. He has called for an end to all arms sales, trade, and diplomatic ties with Israel, and decried former prime minister Keir Starmer for complicity in what he called “the very obvious genocide in Gaza.”

Britain’s leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, addresses supporters, one of whom is holding a Palestinian flag, during a rally in south London, on June 24, 2026. (Henry NICHOLLS/AFP)

Polanski told the BBC he would back the motion only if it were changed, including by allowing for the possibility of a two-state solution, but the Guardian reported on Thursday that Lubna Speitan, who co-authored the motion, had rejected the amendments.

A joint statement by party leaders and MPs after the vote neither explicitly condemned nor condoned the motion, but said that “there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.”

However, the resolution received criticism from individual MPs from within the party’s parliamentary ranks, with Waveney Valley MP Adrian Ramsay saying he was “deeply saddened” by its passage.

“It doesn’t reflect Green principles or my own view. The Green Party has long supported the principle of self-determination, and I stand by our 2024 manifesto commitment of equal rights of Israelis and Palestinians,” he wrote on X, while also sharing the joint statement.

Also sharing the statement, Bristol Central MP Carla Denyer said, “While there are many parts of the motion I can agree with, there are some that I could not, so I did not vote for it.”

In response to the motion, Israel said on Sunday that the party is now “a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism.”

“The Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle,” the Foreign Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said that the resolution “legitimizes armed struggle, calls for a Palestinian state ‘from the river to the sea’ — meaning the destruction of the State of Israel — and labels as ‘racist’ the aspiration of the Jewish people for self-determination.”

The Foreign Ministry called for every party in Britain, especially the ruling Labour, to reject the resolution.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also condemned the resolution, writing on X: “I am a Zionist. I believe in the Jewish people’s right to a state in our homeland, in our right to live in peace and security. As we prepare to mark three years since the October 7th massacre, the UK Green Party has chosen to side with terrorists and antisemites. It is not Zionism that’s racism, it is the Green Party.”

Israel vociferously denies charges of genocide — that the Green Party and its leaders have expressed in the UK — in the Gaza war, which was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

The UK has seen a significant rise in antisemitism since the outbreak of the war and also in anti-Israel activity.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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