Members of the Green Party of England and Wales approved a resolution classifying Zionism as a form of racism at their annual conference on Sunday, a position that now carries the weight of formal party policy. The vote on the motion, put forward by the Greens for Palestine group, came down 1,022 in favour against 813 opposed, with a broadcast outlet carrying the result.

The motion asserted that Zionism draws from European settler-colonial frameworks of domination and oppression, and that those frameworks have produced ethnic hierarchies among Jewish communities of differing backgrounds within Palestine. Delegates also voted down two proposed amendments.

Under one of the proposed amendments, Jewish party members whose religious observance takes place at synagogues or other institutions aligned with Zionist beliefs could have been subject to referral to party leadership on that basis. The second defeated amendment proposed striking language endorsing a "single Palestinian state" from the motion. Both amendments drew support from Green Party leader Zach Polanski, whose family background is rooted in Eastern European Jewish heritage.

Polanski was not present at the conference vote on Sunday, having been engaged in running a parliamentary campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Speaking to a prominent television outlet earlier that week, Polanski put forward the view that the term Zionism carries different meanings depending on how it is understood, and that any interpretation rooted in the forced removal of Palestinian people would constitute a form of racism — a position he said he held as a Jewish person leading a political party.

The Jewish Leadership Council objected to the motion on the grounds that it would impose an ideological test on Jewish people, the vast majority of whom hold Zionist views. The organisation supported that position by citing survey data showing 89 per cent of British Jews regard opposition to Zionism as antisemitic. A speaker at the conference set out three policy measures argued to bring about meaningful change: stopping arms transfers to Israel, terminating intelligence-sharing agreements, and implementing boycott, divestment, and sanctions action.

Caroline Lucas, who previously led the Green Party and represented Brighton and Hove in Parliament, told reporters that the motion gave her considerable pause. She said those who put the motion forward may have acted without any intent to cause harm, yet the lack of a shared, settled definition of Zionism leaves the wording open to readings that certain Jewish party members could interpret as casting doubt on their place within the organisation.

A representative for the Green Party noted that the question had prompted considerable discussion among party members, and that the party's conference had reached a formal policy decision, with delegates holding the authority to table and vote on such matters.

The party describes itself as holding anti-racist values and has maintained positions that include opposing what it characterises as unlawful territorial occupation of Palestinian and Syrian land, pressing for a halt to weapons transfers to the Israeli government, and raising the situation in Gaza and the West Bank through public statements. Those stances continued to form the foundation of the stated policy direction. The party's statement noted that opposition to racism in every form, alongside a commitment to equality, justice, and human rights for all people, remains a guiding principle.