Hackney-Haifa twinning review ‘looks predetermined’

Local Jewish community organisations have warned that Hackney Council’s review of its twinning relationship with Haifa is predetermined, with “Haifa’s fate seemingly decided before the process intended to determine it had even begun.”

The concerns are expressed in a joint letter sent to the Mayor of Hackney by the local organisations Hackney Anglo-Israel Friendship Association (HAIFA) and London Jewish Forum, and supported by national Jewish organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council.

In July, Hackney Council, which is controlled by the Green Party after it won an overwhelming majority in the local council elections held in May, voted to cut ties between the borough and the Israeli city.

Subsequently, Mayor of Hackney, the Green Party’s Zoe Garbett, wrote to Yona Yahav, the Mayor of Haifa, informing him of the intention to break the twinning between the two cities.

The council has made its final decision subject to engagement with interested parties and a full impact assessment. It has also launched a public consultation and established a cross-party working group to review its twinning relationships.

Jewish community organisations questioned how open that process can be when the Council has already agreed its preferred outcome for Haifa.

They argue that importing a “polarised international debate” into local community relations risks inflaming tensions in the borough, which is home to London’s second-largest Jewish community.

Amid rising antisemitism in London, they warn the impact on Hackney’s Jewish residents and on community cohesion has been given too little weight. The organisations have cautioned against ending the relationship to make a political statement about the Israeli government at the expense of civil society links between the two both cities.

They have also urged Hackney Mayor Zoe Garbett to accept Mayor Yahav’s invitation to visit Haifa and see the city first hand before making a decision.

Martin Sugarman, chair of the Hackney Anglo-Israel Friendship Association, said: “Those of us who have spent decades building the relationship between Hackney and Haifa are deeply dismayed by this attempt to end it. The twinning has brought people from different backgrounds together and created lasting relationships between the two cities.

He adds that breaking those connections “to make a political statement about the Israeli government helps nobody in Hackney or Haifa and contributes nothing to the search for peace. At a time of such division, deliberately dismantling relationships between people is precisely the wrong response.”

Amanda Bowman, co-chair of the London Jewish Forum, said: “Hackney Council has a responsibility to consider what this decision means for the people who live in the borough. At a time when antisemitism remains at deeply concerning levels, singling out an Israeli city risks increasing the pressure felt by Jewish residents and adding to divisions between communities.

“It is particularly troubling that the council has agreed in principle to terminate the Haifa relationship while the review, consultation and equalities assessment, intended to inform that decision are still under way. Mayor Yahav has invited Mayor Garbett to Haifa. She should accept that invitation and see for herself the city and communities whose relationship with Hackney is at stake.”

Garbett’s letter to Yahav informing him of the intention to break the twinning between the two cities caused widespread fury within the Jewish community when it asked for a response by 7 October, the anniversary of the Hamas atrocities against Israel in 2023. Garbett subsequently apologised for what was described as a “deeply regretful oversight”.