UK Greens split over anti Zionism motion and party direction

politicsOct 7, 2026291,119

Last weekend the Green Party of England and Wales voted for a motion declaring Zionism “fundamentally incompatible with anti-racist principles, equality and justice,” recasting the party as formally anti-Zionist. Rafael Behr argues in the Guardian that the motion collapses a complex, multiform idea into a single doctrine and forces a party definition that effectively requires Jewish members who identify as Zionists to abandon that identity or face exclusion. The motion includes a pre-emptive clause saying it targets Zionism “as defined” in the text and not the “religious or ethnic background of those who may identify as Zionists,” a formulation Behr calls Orwellian. Behr says the debate was toxic, left the Greens’ co-leader Zack Polanski looking like a passenger in the movement that elevated him, and has made the party hostile to the majority of British Jews. He warns this constitutional change narrows the party’s tent and damages its political credibility on questions of racism and pluralism.

Rafael Behr

@rafaelbehr.bsky.social

Column on Greens, anti-Zionism and why the people who pathologically hate something are not the most reliable people to define it accurately www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

3883d ago

Katie Martin78

"Polanski's authority is solar-powered, activated only when the light of an enthusiastic crowd shines directly on him." 👏🏻

Michele Grant26

I've read a lot on this topic over the past couple of days but this captures more succinctly than anything else the mess the Greens are in and why.

Flaming June8

He absolutely blew it. Great writing!

Ruth1

The best expose and explanation on this topic I’ve read ! Great journalism !

Ruth1

💯 true Rafael ! Great article !

Sooz Kempner

@soozuk.bsky.social

I can't believe the party that enacted the first new anti-trans legislation since Thatcher and is still selling arms to the IDF is now stamping their feet and refusing to work with Greens, a party that, just to remind you, HASN'T said "please work with us, Labour".

2343d ago

Shane Phillips 🏳️‍⚧️

@shanephillips.northsky.social

For a humanities professor, this guy is impressively ignorant, probably deliberately. The Greens and ZP did speak up about the climate crisis repeatedly, and still are. People like Stuart just don't want us talking about Israel.

763d ago

geekylou.bsky.social2

It's so frustrating. Not reported by the media doesn't mean not debated. We just changed our energy policy which massively changed our policy on Nuclear.

J. Michael Moncus 🌹🇵🇸 🍉2

Well *I* haven't heard them talk about the environment (mainly because I haven't been paying attention beyond repeating snide remarks I heard some right-winger say on tv)

Rose Schmits

@roseschmits.bsky.social

The idea that 1. Labour would ever be in coalition with the greens or the greens want to be in coalition with em 2. The idea that labour would ever actually do anything to truly stand up against the genocide, for the sake of coalition 3. Lol lmao, how dare the greens not check with labour first ey

753d ago

The Socialist Dad

@thesocialistdad.bsky.social

The Greens would never work with a party complicit in genocide

383d ago

AnthonyF2725

According to this, Andy Burnham has taken much more money than Keir Starmer. Wes Streeting is way up the list and he makes decisions on the use of RAF flights? www.trackisraellobby.uk

Proud Lefty CW💚🏳️‍🌈🇬🇧🇮🇷🎧4

Labour continue to break the International arms embargo to Israel. They arm genocide.

LaReyne1

The GE is some way off, but if it resulted in the sort of polling I last saw, Labour would have no chance of returning to power without them and others.

VOID VOID VOID

@burnyourbones.bsky.social

Labour were running a van round my constituency on by-election day telling voters the Greens were going to sell all our children into sex work for drugs

363d ago

Gekko

@gekko.bsky.social

A HUGE turn-around by The Greens I criticised them earlier this year for not registering with Gen Z A change of leader, strong social media presence and an appallingly dysfunctional body politic of major parties mired in ideology-delivering-nothing The change is amazing bsky.app/profile/davi...

293d ago

Darken1

So good to see and their rightful escalation in popularity.

HildaBewildered1

I'm not getting my hopes up, I'm still devastated after the 2018 federal election. But I will be doing what I can to help my local greens candidate.

3wombats1

I just tried to log into their campaign launch on zoom(a little late) I couldn’t get in as it was already at capacity

Quoting this

livesarah2

A relief, that’s what it is. Nevertheless, having seen apparently great polling for the Greens before simply evaporate on election day, I’ll believe the change in voter sentiment after the polls come in. 🤞

Elizabeth Taylor

@elizabethtaylor47.bsky.social

People attacking me as though I’m somehow pro Labour in anyway or doing anything to support or justify them is especially hurtful. After everything they’ve put me through, and how much work I gave to the Greens it’s actually a vile thing to imply

323d ago

Lynne #TaxTheRich #WelfareNotWarfare. Eco-Socialist. Pro-🇵🇸

@bebsdotteragain.bsky.social

Dear Angela Rayner Anti-Zionism is NOT Antisemitism …”To imply that an attack on Zionism is an attack on Jews is to argue Zionism & Jews are one and the same. Zionism (a 130-year-old ideology) is not Judaism (a 3,500-year-old religion)” open.substack.com/pub/councile...

163d ago

Duncan Poundcake

@duncanpoundcake.bsky.social

#Greens #AdrianRamsey If you're not up for the fight, get out of the way...

133d ago

norman emailer

@maximumchips.bsky.social

Zionism is racism though? I don't get it. It's literally a doctrine of racial supremacy predicated on the complete erasure of another ethnic group? Am I reading too much into this? Would I vote for a motion that said Zionism is racism? Yes. Would I join the Greens? No

183d ago

Conversation Kenge

@fenken.bsky.social

I thought the Green Party had a future. Sadly that appears to not be the case, at least in the short to medium term. Rafael Behr makes some excellent points: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

183d ago

ala8.bsky.social2

I agree with him, Polanski messed this up, like what happened at Golder's Green, i voted Green before the last election because of Starmer tough choices and welfare spending too high, but Polanski too scared to condemn those Palestine activists that will split the Green party in half

BarefootFi1

While Behr misrepresents reality in parts at least he was honest about his feelings about Corbyn and those who supported him. I don’t think he made any good points.

Independent Media Australia.

@indymediaaus.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Greens can hope to pick up the mess Labor and Albanese have made https://pearlsandirritations.com/e/daily/2026-10-06/480110/ #Auspol

83d ago

Sylvia

@sylvia-suffragette.bsky.social

Poor George, and they call us naïve. The next government (Labour, Tory or Reform) will never do any of those things regrading Israel. George (and others) also seem to be missing the impact the Greens are currently having on policies and political discussions without being part of anything

163d ago

Paul Kelly

@pjthinker.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... A good analysis of the persistent problem of far left entryism who will destroy the idea of a viable and radical Green ecological party in the UK.

83d ago

Kemi Badenoch pledges £1bn cut to DCMS budget at Tory conferencepolitics UK Greens split over anti Zionism motion and party directionpolitics

UK Greens split over anti Zionism motion and party direction

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