Green Party leader Zack Polanski has been barred from entering Israel after party members voted to adopt a controversial motion declaring Zionism a form of racism.
The decision was announced by Israel's foreign ministry after delegates at the Green Party's autumn conference in Brighton voted 1,022 to 813 in favour of the motion, despite opposition from several prominent figures within the party.
According to Israel's foreign ministry, the resolution "constitutes a clear antisemitic text" and denies "the Jewish people's right to self-determination". Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar subsequently announced that Polanski would be barred from entering the country.
The motion, brought forward by the Greens 4 Palestine group, defines Zionism as a political ideology advocating an ethnonationalist Jewish state and calls for a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all citizens. Supporters argue the proposal is aimed at challenging systems of oppression faced by Palestinians, while opponents say it risks alienating Jewish members and communities.
Polanski, who did not take part in the vote because he had left the conference to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, responded by insisting there is "no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people".
The dispute has exposed growing tensions within the Green Party between grassroots activists and some senior elected representatives. Former party leaders and MPs were among those who spoke out against the motion, warning it could have unintended consequences for Jewish members.
For many LGBTQ+ members, the row is particularly striking because the Greens have traditionally been viewed as one of the UK's most LGBTQ+-inclusive parties, with Polanski himself having built a political profile around support for trans rights and broader LGBTQ+ equality.
However, the conference has also been overshadowed by a separate controversy involving comments about trans rights. According to The Telegraph, leaked messages from a Green activist WhatsApp group included claims that Iran was "far more liberal" on trans identity than parts of the West, and suggestions that transphobia is worse in Britain than in some Muslim-majority countries.
Those remarks prompted criticism from LGBTQ+ campaigners, who pointed out that while Iran legally recognises trans people who transition, same-sex relationships remain criminalised and can be punished by imprisonment, flogging and, in some cases, death.
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