Israel lashes out as UK’s Green Party formally defines Zionism as ‘racism’

Israel has reacted with anger after the United Kingdom's Green Party voted to define Zionism as a form of racism.

Key points

• The Movement for Progressive Judaism, a British group, remarked: "The Green Party has made ⁠antisemitism party policy and become a racist party".
• The motion was backed by a majority of 1, 022 to 813.
• Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid remarked it is "not Zionism that's racism, it is the Green Party".
• The Green Party has five sitting members in the UK's 650-seat parliament.
• As well as British Jewish groups, lashed out on Sunday after the vote by the small political party, israel.

As well as British Jewish groups, lashed out on Sunday after the vote by the small political party, israel. The Israeli administration declared that it now views the left-leaning Greens as giving "legitimacy to terrorism".

For context, the Green Party, which received 6 percent of the vote in the UK's national elections in 2024, remarked ⁠it regarded Zionism as "an ethnonationalist political project" and repeated its call for Britain's Labour administration to end all arms trade with Israel.

In a swift response, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs remarked the policy went "far beyond the boundaries of legitimate political debate" and called on other British political parties to condemn the resolution.

"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 ministry wrote on social media.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog labelled the move "a disgrace and a shame". Writing on social media, he remarked: "Those who claim the antisemitic lie that 'Zionism is racism' deliberately endanger Jews and Israelis everywhere."

Notably, the Movement for Progressive Judaism, a British group, remarked: "The Green Party has made ⁠antisemitism party policy and become a racist party".

It continued that the backing of some Jews for the motion did not mean it would not be applied to discriminate against others.

During the vote, the Green Party additionally reaffirmed its "commitment to Palestinian liberation, the right of return, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), and a full arms embargo against Israel".

It additionally reiterated backing for "the establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine", the party noted in an official note.

In practice, the motion was backed by a majority of 1, 022 to 813. Party leader Zack Polanski. This person is running for Parliament in former Prime Minister Keir Starmer's London constituency, did not vote.

In an interview with UK media outlet Sky News, the Greens' co-deputy leader Mothin Ali remarked that the heavy casualty toll during Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and its ongoing attacks were the context for the vote.

In practice, the Green Party has five sitting members in the UK's 650-seat parliament.

After the passage of the resolution, Polanski and other Green Party members stated in a joint statement they would "continue to stand in opposition to genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and the illegal occupation" and "call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government".

In short, israel lashes out as UK's Green Party formally defines Zionism as 'racism' is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.