Church of England interfaith advisers warn of rising antisemitism following Green Party vote

A group of interfaith officials from the Church of England have issued a statement expressing grave concern about the recent Green Party vote on Zionism, calling on the Church to act as a “bulwark” against a “drift” towards antisemitism.

The vote taken at the Green Party conference on Sunday 4 October, with the motion – backed by members with 1,022 votes in favour to 813 against – declares the Greens to be an “anti-Zionist party”. It also sets into its political policy that Zionism, the movement to develop and protect a Jewish state in Israel, will be “treated as any other form of racism”.

Writing on 7 October, the third anniversary of the Hamas atrocities in Israel, three bishops and eleven Church of England interfaith advisers warned that the vote has deepened the sense of vulnerability felt by many Jewish communities in England and risks damaging relationships of trust built over many years.

Wednesday’s Church of England statement was endorsed by the Rt Revd David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Dr Michael Volland, Bishop of Birmingham and Rt Revd Esther Prior, Bishop of Aston. It was also endorsed by Diocesan interfaith advisers serving in London, Manchester, Birmingham, St Albans, Bristol, Lichfield, Hereford, Oxford, Southwark, Winchester and Ely.

The advisers cite recent incidents, including the minimisation of the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023; rhetoric experienced by many Jewish people as erasing their history and identity; controversy surrounding the Kairos II debate at the Church of England’s General Synod; demonstrations that have left Jewish Londoners feeling unsafe; and attacks and alleged plots directed at Jewish communities in Manchester and London, as “part of a wider deeply concerning drift towards an increasingly antisemitic culture in our country.”

Their statement supports the condemnations issued by the Movement for Progressive Judaism and jointly by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council.

It argues that treating Zionism as inherently racist dismisses the varied ways in which Zionism is understood within Jewish communities and disregards its place in Jewish history, prayer, ritual and communal life.

Signatories also “affirm Palestinian dignity, legitimacy and self-determination alongside Jewish safety, self-identity and flourishing” and commend “sustained Israeli–Palestinian civil-society dialogue, grassroots peace-building and proposals for an International Fund for Israeli–Palestinian Peace.”

Elizabeth Harris Sawczenko, vice President, Council of Christians and Jews and on the Ambassadors Council for the Alliance for Middle East Peace told Jewish News it was “encouraging” to see the statement  “and the reflection and care taken by Christian Church of England clergy and friends in drafting it, especially at this time.”

She stressed the importance of interfaith advisers and Bishops referring back to ‘Gods Unfailing Word,‘ the 2019 report on Christian-Jewish relations that defines Zionism, in a chapter on Israel, as “the historic and continuing desire of the Jewish people for a homeland in the Middle East” as having “established a constructive way forward for Christian Jewish Relations, as well as the fact that the House of Bishops themselves,  formally adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in 2018.”

“This,” Sawczenko adds, “stands in stark contrast to the Kairos II document (a theological document launched in 2025 describing the situation in Gaza as a genocide and ethnic cleansing) recommended by the Church of England at Synod on June 2026. This new informal statement, presents an important step towards rebuilding trust between Christian and Jewish communities.”

The advisers conclude by calling on political leaders, Church institutions and citizens across England to resist the drift towards increasing antisemitism and to exercise moral responsibility in public debate.