Israel Bans UK Green Party Leader Following Motion Defining Zionism as Racism

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has banned Zack Polanski, leader of the UK Green Party, from entering the country after party members passed a controversial motion defining Zionism as a form of racism. The decision was reached during the party's annual autumn conference in Brighton, where delegates also formally expressed support for a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine. Israeli officials denounced the policy text as overtly antisemitic and a stain on British history, asserting that it crossed beyond legitimate political debate.

The contentious policy passed with 1,022 votes in favor to 813 against. The motion asserts that the real-world manifestation of Zionism has involved the dehumanization, displacement, dispossession, and ongoing destruction of the Palestinian people. Polanski, who is Jewish, did not vote on the measure after leaving early to campaign for an upcoming parliamentary by-election in Holborn and St Pancras. Prior to the vote, Polanski stated, 'If your Zionism means the displacement of Palestinian people, that is clearly racist,' while unsuccessfully attempting to pass amendments to safeguard Jewish members and alter references to a single-state solution.

The vote sparked fierce criticism from major UK Jewish organizations, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, who condemned the labeling of British Jews and institutions as racist. High-profile figures within the Green Party also expressed internal dissent. Former leader Caroline Lucas and four of the party's five sitting Members of Parliament—including Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay—had openly urged members to reject the motion, cautioning that it oversimplified a complex issue and risked alienating Jewish members.

While Green Party regulations stipulate that conference-approved motions are not automatically included in general election manifestos, the resolution has triggered widespread backlash across Britain's political spectrum. Key figures in the governing Labour Party condemned the vote, calling it an unacceptable rejection of the two-state solution. Polanski and fellow Green MPs later released a joint statement reaffirming that the party remains strictly anti-racist, though internal divisions over the stance remain acute.