Hackney Council Opens Process to End Haifa Twin-City Ties

Hackney Council voted overnight to open a formal process that could end its sister-city agreement with Haifa, established in 1968. The decision does not terminate the relationship immediately; Mayor Zoë Garbett will seek Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav’s views, commission an equality-impact assessment and consult interested groups before a cross-party panel makes a final recommendation. Opposition Labour and Conservative councillors called the move divisive and warned it would inflame communal tensions. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said Haifa is a diverse model of coexistence and argued that severing links would replace dialogue with political symbolism.