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First reactions after the vote

Delegates of the UK Green Party on Sunday approved a motion defining Zionism as a form of racism. After the decision, the Israeli government and several Jewish organizations in Britain sharply criticized the party.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the decision went beyond the bounds of legitimate political debate and called on other British parties to condemn the motion. Israeli President Isaac Herzog and opposition leader Yair Lapid also reacted to the decision in social media posts.

What did the resolution emphasize?

The party said it sees Zionism as an ethnonationalist political project and called on the Labour government in Britain to end all arms trade with Israel. The text also reiterated support for Palestinian freedom, the right of return, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and a full arms embargo on Israel.

  • Support for a single democratic state across all historic Palestinian land was restated.
  • The call to end arms trade with Israel was among the motion’s core demands.

The vote result and the picture inside the party

The motion passed by 1,022 votes to 813. Party leader Zack Polanski, whose party won 6% of the vote in the 2024 general election and holds five seats in the House of Commons, did not take part in the ballot.

Reactions in Britain and the reasoning behind the move

The Movement for Progressive Judaism argued that the decision turned antisemitism into party policy. The organization said the fact that some Jews supported the motion does not mean it cannot be used to discriminate against others.

How did party leaders defend the vote?

Speaking to Sky News, deputy co-leader Mothin Ali said the vote came against the backdrop of the high death toll in Gaza and Israel’s ongoing attacks. After the decision, Polanski and some party members said they would continue to criticize the Netanyahu government’s crimes and oppose genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and the illegal occupation.

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