Hackney moves to end six-decade twinning with Haifa amid antisemitism row

A controversial partnership between Hackney Council and an Israeli city could soon come to an end after almost six decades.

The Green-led Hackney Council is taking the first step towards formally severing ties with Haifa.

Hackney Council entered into a ‘twinning’ arrangement with Haifa in Israel in 1968 to “encourage friendly contacts and exchanges between the ordinary citizens”.

Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, calls to end the ‘sister cities’ partnership have grown increasingly loud.

After several organisations including Amnesty International alleged that Israel has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Green party pledged to cease the arrangement if they were to win power in Hackney at the recent May elections.

Now, after the Greens’ decisive victory, the new administration has begun the process of formally ending the arrangement.

But the move has sparked an immediate backlash amid claims that it will stoke division and be seen as “hostile” towards the Jewish community.

‘Absolutely disgraceful’

Figures from the Hackney Anglo-Israel Friendship Association (HAIFA) and a former speaker of Hackney, Linda Kelly, have called the published proposals to de-twin “absolutely disgraceful”.

“It’s a pity the new councillors don’t spend more time on education and SEND funding, policing, NHS and housing in the borough instead of trying to politicise something that isn’t, and has never been, political,” they said.

Resident Asher Eisen, meanwhile, said de-twinning would be “a real kick in the teeth for the progressive forces in Israel”.

Martin Sugarman, chair of HAIFA, said: “The de-twinning will create huge social dis-cohesion [sic] and be seen for what it really is: an incitement to hate Jews and Zionists and Israelis, an invitation to daub our streets with Jew hate slogans and posters, and incite violent individuals to attack Jews whenever they can and whenever they wish.”

Cross-party working group

At the next full council meeting on Tuesday 28 July, the council will be asked to approve plans to “engage with the municipality of Haifa and other interested parties” and carry out an equalities impact assessment.

The council is proposing to establish a cross-party working group, chaired by a senior councillor, to review the borough’s twinning policy with a view to terminating the formal Haifa relationship.

Published council documents state that the group is expected to meet three times and present their recommendations to the full council to vote on at a future date.

Dormant since Covid

According to the council, in recent years the connection between Haifa and Hackney has been largely limited to hospital exchanges between Homerton Hospital and Rambam Medical Centre, stretching back roughly three decades.

This relationship has lain dormant since the swaps were paused amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), however, argues that any and all civic ties between the two municipalities must be severed in protest against the “racist domination” faced by Palestinians in the city and Israel’s military campaign and occupation.

The group adds that Israel’s alleged flouting of international law is further enabled by arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, which has its global headquarters in Haifa.

Pension fund divestment

Since October 7, 2023, the PSC, the Greens and other activist groups have put sustained pressure on the previous Labour administration in Hackney to end the twinning and divest the council’s pension fund from firms linked to Israel’s military activity and occupation.

Former Mayor Caroline Woodley twice refused to do either, on the grounds that it would inflame community tensions, and because it was not in the council’s power to divest, she claimed.

After the Greens took office in May, the new mayor Zoë Garbett met with the PSC and has since committed to begin divesting the council’s pension fund by excluding companies “complicit in territorial human rights violations”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) approached the Green party and the Labour party for comment. Both the Labour Group and Hackney Council declined to comment until a decision has been reached by the full council.

In the meantime, the immediate proposal for Mayor Garbett to write to the Mayor of Haifa and “seek their views on the proposed termination of the twinning” will be put to the full council for a vote on Tuesday 28 July.