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The Green Party has been branded the UK’s “first openly antisemitic party” after passing a motion declaring “Zionism is racism”. The motion, which was put forward at the Party’s conference in Brighton, passed by 1,022 votes with 813 against on Sunday.

The result means that the stance will now become official party policy. Its leader Zack Polanski did not cast a vote. Taking to X, the former Green deputy leader Shahrar Ali called the Greens “the UK’s first openly antisemitic party”. He added: “Make no mistake this motion removes the right of the state of Israel to exist. It requires it.

“I’ve never been more ashamed and horrified of what the party has become.” The motion sets into the Green’s policy that Zionism, the movement to develop and protect a Jewish state in Israel, will be “treated as any other form of racism”.

A Green Party spokesman said: “This has been a serious and deeply felt debate within our membership. Our members value the ability to bring forward and decide party policy, and conference has now made its decision.

“The Green Party is an anti-racist party and has consistently opposed the illegal occupation of both Palestinian and Syrian land, called for an end to arms sales to the Israeli government and spoken out fearlessly about the devastating situation in Gaza and the West Bank. Those positions remain central to our approach. So too does our deeply held commitment to equality, justice and human rights for all and opposition to racism in all its forms.”

Before the vote, it had divided Green Party grandees, with former leader Caroline Lucas saying it is “unhelpful”. Green MP Ellie Chowns also spoke out on Sunday to warn the motion risked “fuelling division”. She had said she would be voting against the motion and urged others to do the same. That echoed criticism of the motion by former party leaders Sian Berry MP, Adrian Ramsay MP and Carla Denyer MP,

In a joint statement after the vote, the Green Party’s five MPs said they “will continue to work to ensure that the Green Party is an anti-racist party in every way”.

They added: “We know there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.”

Deputy leader Rachel Millward said she would vote the motion down, while fellow deputy leader Mothin Ali said he would back it. The motion, proposed by the “Greens 4 Palestine” group of members, describes Zionism as a political ideology that calls for “an ethnonationalist Jewish State… to the exclusion and/or domination of the non-Jewish population”.

But for many, Zionism refers to Jewish people having a right to self-determination and to settle in their historic homeland of Israel. Delegates voted down an amendment designed to protect Jewish members from being targeted.

The motion also called for a single state of Palestine to be established with “equal rights for all”, including Jewish people. It features no mention of the state of Israel existing alongside it as part of a two-state solution.

Only 1,835 people out of over 200,000 party members voted. The motion came up for a vote after coming top of a member’s ballot of what should be prioritised for debate at the conference.

Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said: “British Jews should not have to disclaim a belief in Jewish self-determination and the existence of Israel in order to be accepted by a British political party.