British borough of Hackney moves to cancel twin-city agreement with Haifa
Hackney Council leader Zoe Garbett has informed Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav of her council’s intention to terminate the twin-city agreement, requesting a response by October 7. The Haifa municipality is currently consulting with the Israeli Foreign Ministry on how to address the request.
The leader of the council of Hackney, London, Zoe Garbett, announced in a letter to Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav on Wednesday her intention, as head of the city council, to terminate the twin-city agreement between the two cities, requesting a response by October 7.
This morning, consultations are taking place between the Haifa municipality and the Foreign Ministry regarding the response to this request. There is concern that either an overly cautious or an overly aggressive reaction could lead to a snowball effect of severed relationships. Approximately 100 local authorities in Israel maintain twinning ties, with over 700 active agreements spanning about 60 countries worldwide.
Hackney is a borough in East London that has been controlled by the Green Party since May. Garbett, the elected leader from their slate, led the move in accordance with the party platform. In her letter, she stated that the connection with Haifa “no longer reflects the council’s priorities,” noting that, in light of UN reports regarding “genocide,” maintaining a connection with Israel is contrary to Hackney’s anti-racist values.
Three days ago, the council voted to initiate the process of withdrawing from the agreement, which was signed in 1968—shortly after the Six-Day War, when Israel expanded its territory by capturing the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and half of the Sinai Peninsula.
The move, particularly the choice of the date “October 7,” sparked outrage within the UK’s Jewish community. The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews described the choice as “horrifying,” and Jewish organizations claimed it was an attempt to mock Israelis during their mourning. The British website “Jewish News” questioned whether the move was born of “malicious intent or stupidity.” The city council later apologized and changed the date to October 5, claiming it was a “mistake.”
Critics of the move emphasized that Haifa is a mixed Jewish-Arab city considered a model of coexistence, and that its council includes both Arab and Green party representatives.
