A Green Party mayor is facing criticism for what opponents have called “staggering insensitivity” after sending a formal letter to an Israeli city about ending a long-standing twinning agreement — with a response deadline set for October 7.
Zoe Garbett, who has been closely involved in efforts by the Green-led Hackney Council to sever its nearly six-decade partnership with Haifa in northern Israel, wrote officially to the city’s mayor, Yona Yahav, on Wednesday.
According to the letter, seen by The Daily Mail, Mayor Garbett told her Haifa counterpart that councillors had voted on Tuesday night to support “in principle” the termination of the twinning arrangement, along with any related municipal links.
She invited Mayor Yahav to submit any comments or objections by October 7 this year — a date that falls on the third anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and 251 others were taken hostage.
The deadline has triggered a backlash, with critics describing the timing as “provocative,” “crass” and “sinister.”
Hackney Council later issued an apology, saying the October 7 deadline had been selected in “error” and confirming that the date had since been moved forward to October 5.
Haifa, a northern Israeli port city, is widely regarded as one of the country’s more progressive and multicultural urban centres, frequently cited as an example of Arab-Jewish coexistence.
Even so, Ms Garbett wrote to Haifa’s mayor: “Hackney and Haifa have shared a civic bond since 1968; however, in my view the relationship no longer reflects the strategic priorities of the Council.”
The Green Party’s first elected mayor has been blasted for ‘staggering insensitivity’ after Hackney Council voted to terminate its twinning agreement with Haifa, Israel – with the consultation ending on October 7
Ms Garbett, seen with Zack Polanski, made history in May as the Green’s first elected mayor
Garbett has played a central role in pushing the Green-led council to end the almost 60-year-old partnership with Haifa, northern Israel (file pic)
She added: ‘As the directly elected Mayor, I wish to be transparent about my administration’s direction, as set out in my party’s manifesto: my administration is seeking to conclude this chapter of our civic history.
‘Given the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and the gravity of the UN Commission of Inquiry Reports concluding Israel has committed genocide, maintaining a civic connection in Israel is at odds with our anti-racist values.
‘The Council stands up for human rights and wants to ensure our global connections reflect our shared core values.
‘We want active, ethical partnerships that champion peace’.
Lord Pickles, former UK Government Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, told The Daily Mail: ‘The decision to end the consultation on the anniversary of the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust is either provocative or insensitive crassness. Either way, it is a new low for the Greens.’
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said it was ‘appalling’ that the date had not raised any alarm bells.
He said: ‘Hackney’s Mayor has given the city of Haifa until October 7 – the anniversary of the Hamas massacre – to respond to their spiteful detwinning consultation.
‘Whether this was deliberate or the product of staggering insensitivity, it is an appalling choice of date.
‘That nobody involved in drafting or approving a letter about Israel recognised its significance speaks volumes about Hackney Greens’ attitude towards this issue and their local Jewish community.’
A spokesperson for the representative body, the Jewish Leadership Council, said: ‘This is crass and shockingly insensitive.
‘In choosing this date of all days as a deadline, the Mayor of Hackney has taken her politics of division a step further in a sickening attempt to mock and torment Israelis in their grief, and bringing insult to the memory of those murdered and kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.’
The date provided to the Mayor of Haifa coincided with the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel
Meanwhile Nivi Feldman, former head of UK Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which supported British relatives of those affected by October 7, called on Mayor Garbett to resign.
She said: ‘At a time when hostages and their families are still trying to heal from unimaginable trauma, and antisemitism continues to rise across the UK, Hackney Council has chosen division over dialogue. The Green Party-led Council should be ashamed and its Mayor should resign’.
Martin Sugarman, chair of Hackney Anglo Israel Friendship Association which oversees the twinning with Haifa, also called for the mayor to step down.
He said: ‘If October 7 was chosen deliberately then it is vile and sinister. It could barely be more offensive. If it was somehow done in error then it is staggering to think no one in the council realised the significance of that date. Heads must roll over this.’
Ms Garbett has long campaigned for a cessation of links with Israel. In October 2025, she seconded a motion calling for Hackney Council to cut all ties with ‘genocidal Israel’, drawing wide condemnation from Labour councillors who accused her of spreading ‘hate, not hope’.
She also courted controversy earlier this year after she blocked a letter praising police who responded to an anti-Semitic knife attack in Golders Green.
Ms Garbett, who previously served as a member of the London Assembly from 2024 until she was elected mayor, said she ‘could not support’ the proposed letter from City Hall to the Metropolitan Police.
The letter, from the committee’s Labour chairman, Marina Ahmad, was intended to thank the brave officers for their ‘swift response’ to the attacks on April 29.
But due to her objection, the letter could not be sent to Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, as all members must agree to its wording.
Of the footage released from the arrest of the Golders Green suspect, Ms Garbett said it looked ‘like two officers kicking the attacker in the side of the head after he has been tasered’.
She later added: ‘We should be seeking to understand if the officers were following the correct protocols.’
Labour’s policing minister Sarah Jones described the objection from the Green Party councillor as ‘a slap in the face’ to the heroic police officers who rushed to the scene, adding Zack Polanski and his allies should be ‘ashamed’.
A Hackney Council spokesperson confirmed the date set for the de-twinning consultation would be changed.
They told The Daily Mail: ‘We apologise for the insensitivity of the original closing date for our consultation. We originally set the consultation to run for 10 weeks on the consultation platform.
‘As soon as we noticed this error, we changed the closing date.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Mayor Garbett and the Green Party for comment.
