UK Green Party passes motion equating Zionism with racism; Israel bars leader
Version 2: New coverage adds the UK government's position, relayed by Hankook Ilbo citing Reuters, that Israel's West Bank occupation and settlement building amount to ethnic cleansing while a court must decide whether other Israeli actions are genocide, along with the Green Party's 6.4 percent vote share in the 2024 general election and a headline-only report from Kukmin Ilbo; the vote, the Israeli reaction and the entry ban are unchanged.
In short
The UK Green Party's members voted 1,022 to 813 at their party conference to pass a resolution stating that Zionism should be treated the same as all other forms of racism. The resolution also backs a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine and urges the government to halt all arms sales to Israel. Israel's foreign ministry called the vote antisemitic and barred Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israel, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog and UK Jewish groups condemned it.
Read the full story 2 min read
The UK Green Party passed a resolution at its party conference stating that Zionism should be treated the same as all other forms of racism, with members voting 1,022 in favour and 813 against on October 4 local time, according to Reuters and AFP reports cited by Yonhap, Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankook Ilbo. The resolution reaffirms the party's support for establishing a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine and again urges the Labour government to halt all arms sales to Israel, the outlets reported. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
Kyunghyang Shinmun quoted the resolution as saying that Zionism's practical and material expression has been the sustained dehumanisation, forced displacement, seizure of property, denial of rights and destruction directed at Palestinians. Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali, who backed the motion, told Sky News on October 3 that the large number of Palestinian deaths in the Gaza war, which began with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, was the main background to the vote, according to Yonhap and Hankook Ilbo. He said the resolution defined Zionism clearly as an ethno-nationalist movement and as ethnic cleansing and genocide, Yonhap reported. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X that the decision was shameful, saying Zionism is the Jewish people's national liberation movement and the basis of their right to a state and national homeland, the outlets reported. Israel's foreign ministry called the resolution an explicitly antisemitic formulation and barred Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israel; Kyunghyang Shinmun quoted the ministry as saying the resolution meant the destruction of the state of Israel. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
In Britain, the Progressive Judaism movement said the Greens had made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party, while the Board of Deputies and three other Jewish groups said in a letter sent before the vote that the Greens would become the first electorally significant UK party to adopt an openly antisemitic platform, according to Yonhap and Kyunghyang Shinmun. Governing Labour Party chair and women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson, cited by Yonhap, also criticised the resolution. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that four of the Green Party's five MPs opposed the motion, and Hankook Ilbo, citing Reuters, reported that the UK government regards Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its settlement construction as ethnic cleansing while saying a court must decide whether other Israeli actions amount to genocide. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
The Green Party holds 5 seats in the 650-seat parliament and won 6.4 percent of the vote in the 2024 general election, Yonhap and Hankook Ilbo reported. Kyunghyang Shinmun cited the Jerusalem Post as saying the Greens were the first mainstream European party to openly declare anti-Zionism, and cited The Economist as arguing that holding all Israelis and all Zionists responsible for abuses against Palestinians and punishing them collectively was unjustified. Kyunghyang Shinmun also reported that Polanski is Jewish and changed his surname as a teenager to reclaim his Jewish identity. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The vote sets the Green Party, which holds 5 of the 650 seats in the UK parliament, apart from the governing Labour Party, whose chair publicly criticised the resolution. Israel's decision to bar the party leader from entry turns the dispute into a direct state-level confrontation between Israel and a British party. The row feeds into wider UK debates over antisemitism and policy towards Israel, and drew commentary from international press cited by the Korean outlets.
Key facts
- Green Party members at their party conference voted 1,022 in favour and 813 against a resolution stating that Zionism should be treated the same as all other forms of racism. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The resolution backs establishing a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine and again urges the Labour government to halt all arms sales to Israel. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The resolution says Zionism's practical and material expression has been sustained dehumanisation, forced displacement, seizure of property, denial of rights and destruction directed at Palestinians. [ 3 ]
- Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali said the large number of Palestinian deaths in the Gaza war that began in October 2023 was the main background to the vote. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the decision shameful and said Zionism is the Jewish people's national liberation movement. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Israel's foreign ministry called the resolution plainly antisemitic and barred Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israel. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- UK Jewish groups, including Progressive Judaism and the Board of Deputies with three other organisations, criticised the resolution. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The Green Party holds 5 seats in the 650-seat parliament and won 6.4 percent of the vote in the 2024 general election. [ 1 , 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Green Party passed a resolution at its party conference stating that Zionism should be treated the same as all other forms of racism, by 1,022 votes to 813 on October 4 local time. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The resolution backs a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine and calls on the UK government to stop all arms sales to Israel. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the decision, and Israel's foreign ministry called it antisemitic and barred Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israel. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- UK Jewish groups, including Progressive Judaism and the Board of Deputies with three other organisations, criticised the resolution. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali linked the vote to Palestinian casualties in the Gaza war. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The Green Party holds 5 of the 650 seats in the UK parliament. [ 1 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the resolution reflects the position of the Green Party's leadership and its parliamentary group. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that four of the party's five MPs opposed the motion, a detail the other outlets do not carry, and no document says how leader Zack Polanski voted.
- Kyunghyang Shinmun's citation of the Jerusalem Post that the Greens are the first mainstream European party to openly declare anti-Zionism. Single-source claim relayed from another outlet; the other documents do not mention it.
- Kyunghyang Shinmun's quotation of Israel's foreign ministry saying the resolution means the destruction of the state of Israel. Single-source wording; Yonhap and Hankook Ilbo report the ministry's criticism without that phrase.
- The exact time the vote was taken on October 4. The documents date the conference vote to October 4 local time but give no clock time.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The Green Party conference opens in Brighton; leader Zack Polanski speaks and deputy leaders Mothin Ali and Rachel Milward attend. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Deputy leader Mothin Ali tells Sky News that Palestinian deaths in the Gaza war were the main background to the vote. [ 1 , 4 ]
- Party members vote 1,022 to 813 to pass the resolution stating Zionism should be treated the same as all other forms of racism. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Yonhap publishes its report on the vote and the criticism from Israel and Jewish groups. [ 1 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo publishes a headline reporting the resolution and the Israeli reaction. [ 2 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun publishes its account, adding the resolution's wording, the opposition of four of the party's five MPs and the entry ban on the party leader. [ 3 ]
- Hankook Ilbo publishes its report, including the party's 6.4 percent vote share in 2024 and the UK government's position on the West Bank. [ 4 ]