Hackney London Borough Council has apologised after initially setting October 7 as the closing date for a public consultation on ending the borough’s longstanding twinning arrangement with the Israeli city of Haifa.
The consultation follows the Green-led local authority’s decision to begin the process of ending the partnership, which dates back to 1968. Mayor Zoë Garbett said the council voted on Tuesday, July 28th to terminate the arrangement, although legal requirements mean the process will continue for several months.
The original consultation deadline immediately drew criticism because it coincided with the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led pogrom against Israel. Critics questioned whether the date had been chosen deliberately, although the council’s Green leadership has denied this.
In a statement, Hackney Council apologised for what it described as an administrative mistake:
We apologise for the insensitivity of the original closing date for our consultation. We originally set the consultation to run for ten weeks on the consultation platform. As soon as we noticed this error, we changed the closing date.
Councillors have not admitted that the original deadline was intentionally linked to the anniversary, but few believe this. On Tuesday, Mayor Garbett made a point of thanking “everyone who’s been protesting outside the town hall,” presumably including egg-throwing antisemites who targeted the pro-Israel solidarity group Our Fight. As was noted on X, formerly Twitter, afterwards:
I think it’s quite clear that Hackney, a place with a long association with British Jewry, is no longer a safe place for Jewish people. Any Jewish residents must be considering moving and or emigrating. I would.
Also enraged, despite the likely fake apology, was Daniel Sugarman, Deputy Editor of Jewish News UK.
The Green Party leadership in Hackney specifically telling the Mayor of an Israeli city that he has until *7 October* to respond to their intention to cancel their twinning agreement is some next level evil, even for those ghouls.
At the time of writing, representatives of the multi-ethnic Israeli city of Haifa have yet to issue an official response.
