Green Party Conference Grapples with Zionism Motion That Could Oust Leader Zack Polanski As the Green Party conference begins in Brighton, a controversial 'Zionism is Racism' motion is testing the leadership of Zack Polanski, the party's only Jewish leader. As the Green Party stages its conference this weekend at the Brighton Centre, leader Zack Polanski might be expected to feel fairly smug. In just over a year since becoming leader, the former breast-enlarging hypnotherapist has energised his party and sent it surging in the polls. The Greens have already won one high-profile by-election under his stewardship, they have taken control of numerous councils, and next week Polanski has a shot at ousting Labour in ex-Prime Minister Keir Starmer's constituency of Holborn and St Pancras to become an MP himself. Mr Polanski's achievements have been based on transforming a party of sandal-wearing eco-crusties into the standard bearer of the hard-Left. But ironically it is this very transformation which could now pose him his biggest problem at the Brighton Centre, where 4,000 delegates have gathered for the conference. Because this new hard-Left membership are invariably anti-Israel obsessives, and ever since they signed up to the Greens they have questioned whether Polanski, the only Jewish leader of a major UK political party, is sufficiently robust on the matter.Zack Polanski Faces Leadership Test Over ZionismEven though he has regularly described Israel's response to the October 7 attacks as 'genocide', there have long been concerns among party hardliners that, as one leaked message from a Green WhatsApp group claimed, he cannot let go of his Jewish background or 'Zionist indoctrination'. With this in mind, his doubters at the conference appear to have set a 'Zack Trap' to test his purity on the issue. Although Zack Polanski has described Israel's response to the October 7 attacks as 'genocide', hardliners claim he cannot let go of his Jewish background or 'Zionist indoctrination'. Delegates at this year's Green Party autumn conference have gathered in Brighton to debate the 'Zionism is Racism' motion. And if, as is likely, he fails it in their eyes, many expect them to launch a coup to unseat him.The challenge revolves around an activist-led motion called Zionism is Racism, which, thanks to a relentless campaign by backers that includes spreading vile anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and disinformation about the October 7 atrocities, now enjoys huge support among party members. It states that support for Zionism – the belief in a state for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland – should be 'treated as any other form of racism'. If passed, it would mean Mr Polanski would also have to treat his own mother and other relatives – who have previously voiced support for Israel – as racists. It would make it almost impossible for any practising Jew to be a member of the Greens, as anyone who is a member of a Zionist synagogue – which is almost all of them – would immediately be suspect.That is not the only controversial aspect about the motion. It insists on support of Palestinian 'resistance' against 'occupation' by 'all available means, including armed struggle' – which, critics say, effectively means supporting terrorist group Hamas. The motion was first proposed for the party's Spring conference held in late March, but back then time restrictions prevented it being heard. (Its backers predictably blamed a 'Zionist' plot to derail it.) Its disappearance from the agenda will likely have come as a great relief to Mr Polanski, who had equivocated when asked about it beforehand by suggesting there were different meanings of the word Zionism.Zionism is Racism Motion Gains Unprecedented SupportBut the motion's supporters have returned bolder than before, having enticed hundreds of new 'entryist' members to join the party just to ensure that this time, it will be heard. With 800 co-proposers, it has become the most popular motion put to Conference in Green history. Not everyone in the party is happy with it. Some of the old guard, recognising that the Zionism is Racism motion is undeniably racist and could affect the party's popularity, have put forward a counter-motion called Building a Consensus for Palestinian Liberation with the aim of uniting the party. While it agrees Israel is a genocidal country, it does not call for it to be dismantled and says it favours peaceful resistance over violence.This has infuriated the pro-Palestine cohort. The Daily Mail can reveal that in an online workshop on Tuesday night to fight off the counter-motion, a series of extreme amendments were agreed upon which would make it as inflammatory as the original. One agreed upon was that anyone who calls themselves a Zionist should be regarded as a 'far Right or religious extremist' who needs to be reported to Prevent, the government's counter-extremism programme. (This is despite the Green Party's own policy to scrap Prevent, which it says disproportionately targeted Muslims and reinforces the idea that Islam is inherently linked to terrorism.) Another amendment states that 'anyone who voluntarily relocates to Israel is inciting the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians'. This poses another problem for Mr Polanski, who has relatives in Israel.