Israel has barred Zack Polanski, the leader of Britain's Green Party, from entering the country after the party's members voted to define Zionism as racism. The decision, announced by Israel's foreign ministry on Sunday evening, came just hours after the vote at the party's annual conference.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar described the resolution as "a clear antisemitic text" and said the ban on Polanski was a "first step". The ministry went further, accusing the Greens of adopting "not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle."
Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, called the party's decision "a disgrace", writing on X that "Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, and it forms the basis for the Jewish people's right to a state and a national home in the Land of Israel."
The motion passed by 1,022 votes to 813. It commits the party to treating Zionism "as any other form of racism" and to supporting "a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine."
Jewish groups warn of rising threat
The vote comes at a time of heightened fear among British Jews. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the motion stoked "anti-Jewish hatred after a year in which British Jews have been murdered attending their synagogue, stabbed in the streets, and seen their community buildings firebombed."
Two worshippers were killed in an attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur last year. In March, ambulances run by a Jewish volunteer service were set alight in Golders Green, north London, the first in a string of arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in the capital. Two Jewish men were stabbed in the same neighbourhood in April. Last week, two Iranian nationals were charged over an alleged plot to carry out an attack in Manchester around this year's Yom Kippur.
The Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism, recorded 1,926 incidents in the first half of 2026, its second-highest half-year total, including a record 135 assaults.
Ahead of the vote, the heads of the Board of Deputies, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council wrote to the party, warning that the motion "would make the Green Party the first electorally significant UK political party in living memory to adopt what appears to be an overtly antisemitic political platform."
UK parties condemn the vote
Bridget Phillipson, chair of the ruling Labour Party and minister for women and equalities, condemned the decision. "It is shameful to vote against a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and to condemn the vast majority of British Jews and Jews around the world as racist for supporting Israel's right to exist," she said in a party statement.
The opposition Conservatives described the Greens as "toxic to its core". Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "British Jews should not have to disclaim a belief in Jewish self-determination and the existence of Israel in order to be accepted by a British political party."
Divisions within the Greens
The motion has exposed deep divisions within the party. At least three of its five MPs opposed it, and Polanski, who is running to become an MP in former prime minister Keir Starmer's London constituency, skipped the vote. He had earlier said that the "displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people" was "clearly racism".
In a joint statement, Polanski and the party's MPs said there was "no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people." A Green spokesperson acknowledged that "this has been a serious and deeply felt debate within our membership."
The Greens, who hold five of the 650 seats in Britain's parliament, have surged in popularity under Polanski, attracting voters dissatisfied with the centre-left Labour government's stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Polls show his popularity has taken a hit in recent months following several missteps.
The controversy comes amid broader European debates over Israel policy, as seen in Finland's recent confidence vote on the issue. Meanwhile, the UK government has been involved in security matters related to Iran, with Israel claiming it tipped off the UK about an alleged plot. The situation in the Balkans also remains tense, with Bosnia's EU bid stalled amid political instability.
