By David Milliken
LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Britain's Green Party voted to class Zionism as a form of racism, drawing criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government which said it now viewed the party as "a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism".
The Greens – who received 6% of the vote in a national election in 2024 and have around 10% support in recent opinion polls – said they regarded Zionism as "an ethnonationalist political project" and repeated their call for Britain's Labour government to end all arms trade with Israel.
"The motion also restates the Green Party's backing for the right to self-determination and calls for the establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine," the party said in a statement on Sunday.
GREEN PARTY LEADER BANNED FROM ISRAEL
The definition of Zionism – which inspired the foundation of the modern state of Israel in the 20th century – and what it implies for the rights of non-Jews in Israel and neighbouring territory, is contentious.
Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party and a supporter of the motion, told Sky News on Saturday that the heavy Palestinian death toll during Israel's offensive in Gaza was the key context for the vote.
"The motion defines Zionism quite clearly. It defines it as an ethnonationalist movement. It defines it as ethnic cleansing. It defines it as genocide," Ali said.
Israel rejects claims of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive that followed the October 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and another 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.
Israel's overwhelming military response triggered greater diplomatic isolation of Israel, unprecedented international legal scrutiny and stronger demands for an end to its occupation of Gaza.
It has also polarised the debate over Israel's policies toward the Palestinians and has increased Western support for Palestinian statehood, with the notable exception of the United States.
Israel responded to the UK Greens' move by barring party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israel. Polanski, who is Jewish and did not vote on the motion, is seeking election to the British parliament on Thursday in former Prime Minister Keir Starmer's now-vacant London constituency.
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a post on X on Sunday that the motion "constitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition, as it denies the Jewish people's right to self-determination".
BRITISH JEWS CONDEMN GREENS' MOTION
The Green Party motion passed by a majority of 1,022 to 813 despite opposition from many senior figures, prompting condemnation from British Jewish groups.
"The Green Party has made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party," the Movement for Progressive Judaism said, adding that the support of some Jews for the motion did not mean it would not be used to discriminate against others.
Britain's Community Security Trust, a Jewish organisation, last year recorded the second-highest number of antisemitic incidents since it began collecting data in 1984. It said incidents rose after Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Israel called on Sunday for other British political parties to condemn the Green Party vote. "The Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle," it said.
Britain's governing Labour Party said the vote crossed a line and should be condemned across the political spectrum.
The UK government views Israeli settlers' actions in the West Bank as amounting to ethnic cleansing but has said courts must decide if other Israeli actions qualify as genocide. Israel has denied ethnic cleansing.
Polanski and other senior Green Party figures said they would "continue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government," and that "there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people."
(Reporting by David Milliken; Additional reporting by Yasmine Ghania and Kate Holton; Editing by David Holmes, Nick Zieminski and Gareth Jones)
