Humza Yousaf has said the Green Party’s “Zionism is Racism” motion was a “misstep of the highest order”.

Speaking to Aaron Bastani on Novara Media, the former Scottish first minister said: “I can’t understand why they thought this was a debate that needed to be had at this particular time, let alone any time.” He added: “I think it is a misstep of the highest order, and that’s me being very polite about it.”

The “Zionism is Racism” motion was passed early this month at the Green Party conference in Brighton, despite opposition from prominent party MPs including former leadership contenders Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsey. Meanwhile, party leader Zack Polanski said he would not have voted for the motion without further amendments. The motion defined Zionism as an “ethnonationalist political project” and called for the establishment of a single Palestinian state. It was passed with 1022 votes for and 813 against.

Yousaf said that he had “no problem” with the idea of Jewish people having their own homeland, arguing: “If I believe in a homeland for Muslim people, or Scots, or Kashmiris, then why would I have a problem with Jewish people saying we want to determine our future in a Jewish homeland?”

He added that it was also true that the “realization of Zionism” over the past century was “full of racist policies”. He cited the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision in 2024 that found Israel in breach of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adding: “If you are in breach of a convention against racial discrimination, your policies are racist.”

Yousaf said it was possible to hold both beliefs at once, but argued that “at a time when the British government is beginning to pile pressure onto Israel” — referencing the Labour government’s sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank — the motion had turned attention away from Israel and “distracted and deflected from Gaza”.

The former first minister served in the role from March 2023 until May the following year, and was in office at the time of the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, after which his half-Palestinian wife’s parents were trapped in Gaza. Yousaf was the first Western leader to call for a ceasefire in the aftermath of the attack. He resigned from his post after the government coalition between his Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and the Scottish Green Party collapsed.

Yousaf has since become an adviser and consultant on leadership, offering “masterclasses” for companies and public figures, and has been a prominent supporter of the Palestinian cause. He told Novara that he could “never forgive” former prime minister Keir Starmer for his response to Israel’s war in Gaza after the October 7 attacks, saying it lacked “basic humanity”.

He warned that the Green Party’s debate over the Zionism motion had “echoes” of Jeremy Corbyn’s time as leader of the Labour Party. Speaking to Novara Media days before the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, he argued that the party would struggle to withstand a “barrage of negative press”, which he said had damaged Polanski during the “biggest test of his leadership” and made a victory in the seat “virtually impossible”.

“It was a misstep,” Yousaf concluded, “and really the movement can’t afford a misstep.”