The Green-led Hackney Council is taking the first step towards formally severing ties with Haifa, ending a partnership that began in 1968. The council will be asked to approve plans to engage with Haifa and carry out an equalities impact assessment at the next full council meeting on July 28.
Background to the de-twinning
Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, calls to end the 'sister cities' partnership grew louder. After several organisations alleged that Israel committed war crimes and genocide in Gaza, the Green Party pledged to cease the arrangement if they won power in Hackney at the May elections. After the Greens' victory, the new administration triggered the process.
Backlash from community figures
The move has sparked immediate backlash. Figures from the Hackney Anglo-Israel Friendship Association (HAIFA) and former Speaker Linda Kelly called the proposals 'absolutely disgraceful'. Resident Asher Eisen 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 and be seen for what it really is: an incitement to hate Jews and Zionists and Israelis.'
Council's next steps
The council proposes to establish a cross-party working group to review the twinning policy with a view to terminating the Haifa relationship. The group is expected to meet three times and present recommendations to a future full council vote. In recent years, the connection between Hackney and Haifa has been largely limited to hospital exchanges, which have been dormant since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pressure from activist groups
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) argues that all civic ties must be severed in protest against Israel's military campaign. Since October 7, 2023, the PSC and Greens pressured the previous Labour administration to end the twinning, but former Mayor Caroline Woodley twice refused, citing community tensions. After the Greens took office, new Mayor Zoë Garbett committed to begin divesting the council's pension fund from companies 'complicit in territorial human rights violations'.
The Labour Group and Hackney Council declined to comment until a decision is reached by the full council. The immediate proposal for Mayor Garbett to write to the Mayor of Haifa seeking views on the termination will be voted on July 28.
