Israeli Minister Brands UK Green Party ‘Racist and Hateful’

A Green party motion that calls for Zionism to be treated as a form of racism has provoked ire from a senior Israeli official. 

At the party’s spring conference next month, members will vote on a motion seeking to recognise Zionism as an ethnonationalist political ideology.

In response, Israeli deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel told the Daily Mail the Greens are a “racist and hateful political party”. 

Haskel recently came under fire after dodging a question posed by Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman about Israel’s decision to invite and host far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Put forward by Palestinian artist and activist Lubna Speitan, Motion A105 argues that “Zionism is fundamentally incompatible with anti-racist principles, equality and justice.” It advocates for a single democratic Palestinian state.

Asked by Times Radio hosts whether he believed Zionism to be inherently racist, Green party leader Zack Polanski said: “Well, I’m giving you a very specific answer, which is it depends on your definition of Zionism.

“If we’re talking about the definition that this Israeli government are clearly perpetrating through a genocide in Gaza, then yes, absolutely. That’s racist.”

The motion has sparked debate, with the Jewish Greens warning party members that it could make Jewish people feel unwelcome. 

At least 73,118 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing genocide since October 2023.