The Board of Deputies of British Jews has voted overwhelmingly to declare the Green Party of England and Wales a racist party, passing the motion by 118 votes to one at its October plenary session, according to reports of the meeting. The decision follows the Green Party conference motion earlier in October which declared the party an anti-Zionist party and said Zionism would be treated as any other form of racism, alongside support for a single democratic Palestinian state.

Why the Board acted

The Board had already condemned the conference motion as an antisemitic platform based on what it called a grossly offensive distortion of Jewish experience and identity. Its new motion means the organisation will treat the Greens as it treats other parties it considers racist, and it has urged other democratic parties to establish a political firewall, including over coalition deals. Reports also say Labour has told local Green groups in coalition with it to disown the motion or lose Labour support.

The Green Party response

The Green Party has denied that it excludes people for holding Zionist views, saying its conference motion sets out political opposition to the displacement of the Palestinian people, and it rejects the Board's characterisation of the party. Four of the party's five MPs, including Ellie Chowns and Sian Berry and former leaders Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer, had already publicly rejected the conference motion, and the party says its commitment to equality and opposition to racism in all its forms remains central to its approach.