Israel Bans Zack Polanski After Green Members Pass ‘Zionism Is Racism’ Motion

Israel has banned Green leader Zack Polanski from entering the country after members of his party approved a motion defining Zionism as a racist ideology. 

The Israeli foreign ministry said in a post announcing the ban on X on Sunday that the new policy legitimised “the destruction of the state of Israel” and was “clearly antisemitic”.

On Sunday, 1,022 party members voted yes to the ‘Zionism is racism’ motion, while 813 voted against it. It reads: “Zionism is a political ideology which called for the creation – and, now it exists, the continuity – of an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine to the exclusion and/or domination of the non-Jewish population.”

It also asserts the party’s commitment to Palestinian liberation and a full arms embargo against Israel as it continues its genocide in Gaza. 

Following the vote, a Green party spokesperson said: “This has been a serious and deeply felt debate within our membership.” They added the party maintains a “commitment to equality, justice and human rights for all and opposition to racism in all its forms.” 

Four of the Greens’ five MPs – Adrian Ramsay, Carla Denyer, Ellie Chowns and Sian Berry – have said they oppose the motion while Hannah Spencer has not made her view on it public. Former leader Caroline Lucas urged members to vote no, arguing it might alienate Jewish members. 

Polanski, who is Jewish, did not vote. He left the conference early to campaign for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, which takes place on Thursday. 

Polanski has previously expressed concern over the motion and called for two amendments – including one explicitly stating that Jewish people in the party would be safeguarded, and would not be punished for attending Zionist synagogues. 

He also opposed a section of the motion calling for a single Palestinian state, arguing that it wasn’t the job of the Green party to “decide what the future settlement of Palestine and Israel looks like”.   

However, at a byelection hustings last month, he said: “If you’re defining Zionism as a displacement genocide, which is how, in practice, Zionism has become, then that is racism.”

The motion means the Green party is now the first explicitly anti-Zionist political party in the UK. However, while motions at conference inform the party’s long-term vision and policy platform, they do not determine election manifestos.