Barnet Labour slams Hackney Council over Israel

Conservative councillor Raffy Lachter put forward the motion to twin Barnet with Haifa after Hackney’s Green leadership started the process of ending its own longstanding relationship with the Israeli city reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

The entrance to Hendon Town Hall — Hendon Town Hall

Barnet Labour has criticised the decision of Hackney Council to distance itself from the state of Israel.

It follows the approval of a motion from Conservative member Raffy Lachter to twin the borough with the Israeli city of Haifa at a full meeting of Barnet Council on Tuesday (20th) last week.

The motion was approved with 29 votes in favour, 1 against and abstentions from all Labour councillors present.

Despite abstaining from the vote, Barnet Labour group’s main response to the issue has been to criticise the Green administration of Hackney Council.

In July, the North London council voted to begin the process of severing ties with the Israeli city.

Speaking at the time, Sam Mathys, the local authority’s cabinet member for culture, said: “It is our responsibility as a Green-led council to ensure that our institutional relationships are consistent with our values and commitment to human rights, international law, justice and international solidarity.”

The move had been one of the Hackney Green group’s manifesto promises ahead of its landslide victory at May’s local elections, where it won 40 seats – 38 more than it held previously.

The decision, which could be formally enacted early next year, would see the end of a twinning relationship between Hackney and Haifa, dating back to 1968.

Hackney’s decision came after an independent UN commission in September 2025 found that the Israeli government has “committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”.

At least 70,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, including more than 21,000 children – and at least 129 journalists attempting to cover the conflict.

In addition, the current Israeli government’s support for illegal settlements in the West Bank has been described by the UN as “a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday (21st) Barnet Labour said it was “destructive and provocative” of the Hackney administration to distance itself from Israel.

In its statement, the group said the move would “alienate many Jewish residents of Hackney”.

At the same time, explaining why the Labour administration had failed to support Cllr Lachter’s motion, the group said that, due to budgetary pressures, its councillors could not “vote for a financial commitment which is open-ended in terms of duration”.

It explained that the local authority has “declined other suggestions for twinnings in recent years”, adding that it is “already proudly twinned with the Israeli city of Ramat Gan”.

Barnet Labour also said that, out of respect to Haifa, “a multicultural city where both Jews and Arabs are represented in administration and which hosts the international headquarters of the Bahai faith, the group did not vote against” the motion.

The Labour group also condemned the ‘Zionism is racism’ policy passed at the national Green Party’s annual conference in Brighton on 4th October.

Council leader Barry Rawlings, who claimed that the motion was antisemitic, said: “Jewish residents have told us how concerned they are about the Green Party policy.

“It echoes the worst kind of antisemitism that came out of the Soviet Union. We want Jewish communities to know that we stand by them, and will not let them be marginalised or ostracised.”

The national Green Party have said that their motion is not antisemitic as it “sets out the party’s opposition to Zionism, defined as an ethnonationalist political project, and states that anti-Zionism should not be equated with antisemitism”.

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