English Greens Adopt Anti-Zionist Policy, Triggering Rift With European Greens
The Green Party of England and Wales has adopted a binding policy declaring Zionism a form of racism.
The vote took place at the party's conference in Brighton on Sunday, according to reporting published on 5 October, and the policy is now binding on the party The Guardian. The text states that Zionism should be treated as any other form of racism. It backs a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine with equal rights for all.
Four of the party's five MPs opposed the motion. Ellie Chowns, MP for North Herefordshire and a former co-leader, was among the opponents and said party policymaking "urgently needs to be modernised". The motion passed with just over 1,000 votes, approximately 0.4% of the party's total membership.
Internal dissent was not new. Jewish Greens officers had urged members to vote against the motion 'Zionism is Racism' in February 2026, ahead of its tabling at the Spring 2026 conference Jewish Greens. After the Brighton vote, Sandy Ruthven, chair of Amnesty International UK's charitable trust and a longstanding Green member, resigned over the motion. The party itself published the outcome under the title "Green Party adopts anti-Zionist policy" on 4 October 2026.
The sharpest institutional response came from the European Green Party. The EGP, which represents 47 parties including the Green Party of England and Wales, said it supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. In a statement published on its own site, it said the "Zionism is Racism" resolution voted at the Green Party of England and Wales congress "goes against the agreed positions of the EGP and its Member Parties" European Green Party. It said it "will immediately demand clarity from the leadership and parliamentary group of the Green Party of England and Wales over the motion."
German Greens co-leader Felix Banaszak called the policy "intolerable" and "unacceptable". He said it runs counter to the positions of the German Greens, formally Alliance 90/The Greens, and the European Green Party, including support for Israel's right to exist.
Criticism also came from the Israeli government and from British Jews over the October 2026 vote to classify Zionism as a form of racism Reuters. Zack Polanski was banned from Israel after the adoption of the policy The Telegraph.
The broader context here is about enforcement and affiliation rather than language alone. Binding conference motions create a direct tension when a parliamentary group largely opposed the measure and when a transnational federation operates on a different settlement model. For specialists, the questions to watch are procedural. Whether the leadership can contain a policy supported by a small fraction of members, whether the EGP has mechanisms beyond a demand for clarity, and whether resignations and external bans alter candidate selection and coalition behaviour in England and Wales. The vote does not change British law or foreign policy. It changes what one party with five MPs must defend in interviews, in council chambers, and in European forums.
