Overview
- Hackney Council, which voted on Tuesday, approved starting a formal, staged process to end its nearly 60-year twinning relationship with Haifa rather than severing ties immediately.
- The procedure requires a letter to Haifa’s mayor, a public consultation, an equalities impact assessment, and a cross-party working group that will report recommendations in January 2027.
- The move fulfils a Green Party manifesto pledge after the party won control of the council in May and follows intensified local campaigning and a UN Commission of Inquiry report cited by councillors.
- Jewish communal bodies and some opposition councillors condemned the step as divisive and insensitive, while pro‑Palestine campaigners and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign welcomed the decision.
- The twinning, established in 1968, mainly supported medical exchanges between Homerton Hospital and Rambam Medical Center that have been largely dormant since the COVID-19 pandemic, raising questions about the balance of symbolic protest and practical cooperation.