Zack Polanski won’t overturn Green Party’s ‘Zionism is racism’ motion despite sinking to new polling low

Due to party rules, the motion will remain policy until at least 2028.

The vote, which was passed by 1,022 votes to 813, occurred at the Green's Party Conference in Brighton earlier this month.

It defines Zionism as an "ethnonationalist political project" and states opposition to Zionism, the belief in Jewish self-determination and statehood, should not be equated with antisemitism.

Contentiously, Mr Polanski refused to vote on the motion. He has previously said that he would not have voted in favour without amendments.

When asked on Sunday if he would intervene as party leader, Mr Polanski said: "I'm not going to try to overturn it.

"At the first available opportunity, I do want to amend it - I want to move away from one state, towards saying that Israelis and Palestinians should decide that future for themselves."

He noted that any amendments will not come until 2028 because "when you vote on something in our party conference that's then policy for two years".

"I think if members have made a decision, then I respect the democratic will of our members," the party leader added.

It comes as the Greens continue their emphatic slump in the polls.

A survey by Ipsos in October found 52 per cent of the public said they had an unfavourable view of Mr Polanski.

This is up six points since September, and it is the first time more than half the population has expressed a negative opinion of the London Assembly member.

Just 16 per cent said they had a positive view of the Greens leader, and his overall rating has fallen to minus 36, the lowest rating of any national party leader.

Keiran Pedley, UK director of politics at Ipsos, said the public had noticed that it had been a "bruising month" for the London Assembly member.

The Greens have faced backlash from all corners of the political spectrum - including from within the party.

The leader of the Jewish Greens yesterday threatened to leave the party, slamming the vote as "unhelpful" and declaring it "does not make any difference whatsoever to Palestinians".

A No10 spokesman said it was a "shameful vote against a two-state solution".

Unsurprisingly, Israel condemned the decision, accusing the party of giving "legitimacy to terrorism".

The country's foreign minister confirmed Mr Polanski has been barred from entering Israel altogether, describing the motion as "shocking".

"The Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle," an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said.