Green Party leader Zack Polanski has stated he would not have voted for a controversial motion passed by party members that declared Zionism a form of racism. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Polanski described the motion as imperfect, indicating he would have supported an amended version.

Polanski, who is Jewish, explained that while he disagreed with the party deciding on a single state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, he found the core assertion of the motion to be "obvious." This substantial part stated that the "displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people is clearly underpinned by a racist ideology." Israel has consistently denied allegations that its actions in Gaza constitute genocide, though several UN reports have accused the Israeli government of war crimes.

The motion, passed at the Green Party's annual conference in Brighton, defined Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state and advocated for a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine, which encompasses modern-day Israel. Polanski faced criticism from senior Green Party figures and others for his response to the resolution.

Polanski did not participate in the debate or vote on the motion as he had left the conference early to campaign for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. He had previously declined media interviews during the final days of the by-election campaign, and until his recent interview, had not explicitly stated his stance on the motion.

Under Green Party rules, motions passed by members become official party policy, though they are not automatically included in the party's general election manifesto. Polanski indicated that he would have voted for amendments to the motion, particularly one that would remove the party's stance on dictating a single democratic state.

"The motion as amended, I would have voted for," Polanski stated. "The motion unamended, I wouldn't have voted for." He also expressed a desire for the motion to be amended to ensure it would not be used to discipline Jewish members of synagogues that identify as Zionist.

Polanski is currently facing scrutiny over his leadership following his second-place finish behind Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Despite this result, he has affirmed his intention to remain as leader, asserting that the movement is "so much bigger than one election or one motion."

Both of the amendments favored by Polanski were ultimately rejected by Green Party members at the conference. The situation highlights internal divisions within the party regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and broader foreign policy stances.