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Hackney’s Green-led council has voted to begin the controversial process of ending its decades-long twinning agreement with the Israeli city of Haifa, despite furious opposition from Labour and Conservative groups.
The decision, which some councillors condemned as “divisive” and “performative,” will see the council move, in principle, towards formally terminating the 1968 twinning agreement and all municipal ties with Haifa.
The de-twinning process has now begun BEFORE an equalities impact assessment has happened – and will include a period of engagement with interested parties.
With the Greens’ large majority, the proposal was always set pass at Tuesday evening’s meeting of full council.
The Mayor of Hackney will now write formally to the Mayor of Haifa to seek the municipality’s views on the proposal to terminate the twinning partnership.
Conservative Cllr Simche Steinberger sharply criticised the process when he addressed the chamber, saying: “To be quite frank, the only winner of all of this is going to be Haifa.
“To be honest, if I was Haifa, I’d be ashamed to twin with Hackney in such a current situation. It’s a disgrace, and it’s not asked for… You’ve not spoken to any of the six Jewish councillors about it. Nothing at all, nothing whatsoever.”
But Jewish Green Cllr Florence Schechter, referencing her own Jewish background, spoke in favour of the detwinning saying: “If you knew me when I was 13 and you saw me called to the Bimah for my bat mitzvah to read the Haftarah…
“If the Jewish people of Britain want to fight rising antisemitism, the first thing they must do is condemn the genocide in Palestine.
“And it is for this reason that I will be voting in favour of these recommendations.”
The original agreement, established in 1968, has over the past thirty years mainly involved exchanges between Homerton University Hospital and Rambam Medical Centre in Israel.
For the past 30 years responsibility for the civic link with Haifa had be passed to the Hackney Anglo Israeli Friendship Association (HAIFA) which organised exchanges and carried out its own fund-raising activities with a minimal impact on the council.
However, such exchanges were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the last known civic event being a reception for visiting nurses from Rambam in October 2019, a report presented to councillors confirmed.
The Greens, who swept to power in Hackney on the back of a pro-Gaza, anti-Israel campaign, made the pledge to de-twin with Haifa a key part of their manifesto.
Insiders noted that the move was far easier to implement than the more legally complex issue of divesting council pension funds, and allows the Greens the chance to claim some success, however limited in actual impact.
Addressing the chamber ahead of the debate, Mayor Zoe Garbett reinforced her party’s stance: “Given the ongoing humanitarian crisis and a UN commission concluding Israel has committed genocide, we have made progress with divesting our pension funds by launching a review of the Hackney Pension Fund’s investment strategy.
“And today, in this meeting, we are reviewing our international links, including a proposal to end our twinning agreement with the military port city of Haifa in Israel. This is about who we are as a council, what we condone, who we work with, and what that says about who we are.”
She also acknowledged pro-Palestine protesters on the steps outside, adding:”I want to thank everyone who’s emailed with their thoughts on this and passionately spoken to us about this over the years, and to everyone who’s been protesting outside the town hall before this meeting.”
Proposing the motion, Green councillor Sam Mathys said: “For decades, we have witnessed human rights abuses committed by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people, which has escalated to a horrifying and unprecedented scale over the past years.
“The International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide, and that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should be ended.”
She continued: “It is our responsibility as a Green-led Council to ensure that our institutional relationships are consistent with our values and commitment to human rights, international law, justice, and international solidarity… Our manifesto promised to end Hackney’s current twinning relationship with Haifa at its earliest convenience, which is what we are delivering today.”
Labour’s Cllr Ben Lucas also spoke out strongly against the plan.
He said:”The Labour Group, in all good conscience, cannot support this paper. Let me start by saying we are unequivocal in our abhorrence of the devastation and violence in Gaza caused by the Israeli government, and we utterly condemn the Hamas terrorist attacks.
“But we must all ask and look to ourselves and say, why are we here? What are we actually doing here?
“The resident-led twinning with Haifa was forged in 1968, nearly 60 years ago, in a spirit of working-class solidarity. It’s multi-faith, multi-ethnic, and built most notably on the noble idea of medical cooperation… So far from showing solidarity, trashing that civic link signals that we abandon them, and it prevents dialogue and robust accountability with our friends. This paper is flawed, Madam Speaker… This is a performative gesture that will only inflame community tensions.”
Labour Cllr Anntoinette Bramble added: “I want to start by saying the common ground is that we all want to see peace. We are all devastated by the loss of life in both communities, in both countries, and I really think that I need to re-emphasise that. No one should be taking the moral high ground. We keep talking about mandates.
“We are all elected here on a mandate, and to be clear, we have a mandate to serve people, whether they voted for us or not. Twinning is about local communities having a civil partnership… It’s how we strengthen the communities. It’s how we build and come together. I’m perplexed by this proposal because it doesn’t seem to strengthen those communities.”
But another Green councillor spoke in favour.
Cllr Manal Masala, introduced as the “daughter of Nakba survivors,” said: “As we gather here this evening, the genocide in Gaza continues, and violence against defenseless Palestinians in the West Bank is intensifying… Civic partners should reflect the values of justice, equality, and solidarity with the oppressed.
“When they no longer do, we have a responsibility to deal with them.
“Detwinning is not about supporting a people, a religion, or a culture. It’s about ensuring that our institutional relationship reflects those values. I look forward to the day when Palestinians can exercise their right to self-determination and live side by side with Israeli Jews, free from all forms of oppression, inequality, and indignity.”
A new cross-party twinning working group, chaired by Cllr Sam Mathys, will review the council’s twinning policy and all five existing twinning relationships.
The working group, whose members are yet to be announced, will consider responses from Haifa, input from other interested parties, and the results of an equalities impact assessment before making a final recommendation to a future Full Council meeting on whether to formally terminate the partnership.
In a statement Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said:”Tonight, the Hackney Green Party showed its ignorance and bigotry. Haifa is a diverse city, widely seen as a model of ethnic and religious coexistence.
“The city is led by a progressive mayor and its council includes representatives from Green, Arab and Communist parties. If the Hackney Greens had any genuine interest in peace they would celebrate Haifa, not censure it. This vote represents the prioritisation of spite over sense.”
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