Israel condemns UK Green Party vote defining Zionism as racism

Israel has sharply criticised the UK Green Party after members voted to define Zionism as a form of racism. The row follows a party motion passed on Sunday that also renewed calls for Britain to end arms trade with Israel. The dispute has drawn in senior Israeli officials and British Jewish groups, turning an internal party policy decision into a wider political and diplomatic controversy.

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The motion was approved by 1,022 votes to 813, according to the party statement cited in the report. It described Zionism as "an ethnonationalist political project" and reaffirmed support for Palestinian liberation, the right of return, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and a full arms embargo against Israel. Party leader Zack Polanski did not vote, while co-deputy leader Mothin Ali later defended the position in media interviews.

Israel's foreign ministry said the policy went "far beyond the boundaries of legitimate political debate" and urged other British parties to condemn it. On social media, the ministry accused the Greens of giving legitimacy to terrorism and said the party had adopted the ideology of Hamas. President Isaac Herzog called the move "a disgrace and a shame", while opposition leader Yair Lapid said the party itself, not Zionism, was racist.

The Movement for Progressive Judaism in Britain also condemned the resolution, saying the party had made antisemitism party policy. The dispute matters because it touches on one of the most sensitive political and historical debates in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Zionism is broadly understood as the movement supporting Jewish self-determination and the establishment of a Jewish state, while critics often argue that some forms of Zionist politics are tied to discrimination against Palestinians.

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By formally adopting the language of racism, the Green Party has moved the argument from protest politics into an official party position, increasing the likelihood of further backlash in Britain and abroad. The Greens won 6% of the vote in the UK's 2024 national elections, making them a small but visible force in British politics. Their statement also repeated support for a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine, placing the resolution within a broader platform that has long been critical of Israel's policies.

The party's stance is likely to be read alongside wider debates in Britain over arms exports, recognition of Palestinian rights and the language used to describe Zionism. What remains unclear is whether the resolution will lead to any formal disciplinary, parliamentary or electoral consequences for the party. It is also not yet clear whether other British political parties will issue direct responses, as Israel has urged.

The immediate focus will be on whether the Green Party leadership clarifies or defends the vote further, and whether the row deepens tensions with Jewish organisations in Britain.

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