Woollahra Council takes on City of Sydney over contentious push towards tearing up contracts with Israeli linked companies
A battle of Sydney councils has broken out over a contentious move by the City of Sydney Council to investigate scrapping contracts with companies linked to Israel with neighbouring Woollahra councillors labelling the move ‘antisemitic’ and ‘tokenistic’.
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A contentious move by the City of Sydney to investigate scrapping contracts with companies linked to Israel has been slammed by a neighbouring council as “antisemitic” and “tokenistic”.
The City of Sydney is facing renewed criticism over a motion moved at the council’s last public meeting which called for an audit of its divestments to ensure the council does not invest in or profit from “any human rights violations including the illegal occupation of the settlements in Palestinian territories, and the supply of weapons”.
The motion – put forward by Greens councillor Sylvie Ellsmore and backed by Lord Mayor Clover Moore and her independent team of councillors – could result in the council tearing up contracts with companies linked to Israel such as technology providers.
The motion is in line with demands of the broader anti-Israel ‘boycott divestment and sanctions campaign’ which has seen some institutions including universities commit to reviewing investments and supplier contracts linked to Israel.
Woollahra councillors – at the council’s public meeting this week – condemned the City of Sydney move and backed its own procurement policy to ensure no changes were made that would be in line with the “racist” boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.
Councillor Isabelle Shapiro said the move was “inciting vile anti Semitism” at a time of heightened racial and religious tensions across Sydney.
Woollahra Council is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Sydney with latest Census data showing 14 per cent of residents registered their religion as Jewish in 2021.
“I’ve had a number of people come up to me to say how distressed they were that the City of Sydney could even put this forward,” Ms Shapiro said.
“An introduction of this policy is at best tokenistic and does absolutely nothing to advance the cause and bring peace to the middle east.
“To truly understand what a boycott would involve, it’s important to consider Israel is known as one of the leading high tech industries of the world – so in boycotting Israeli industry you’d have to among many others things do without computers which are powered by intel chips which are designed in Israel.”
Woollahra mayor Richard Shields was equally critical of the City of Sydney motion, saying it could lead to further polarisation and social disharmony.
“The boycott, divestment sanctions campaign against Israel is right out of the Goebbels and Hitler pre-holocaust playbook where banning people from purchasing Jewish services was commonplace,” he said.
“These sorts of tactics have no role to play in a pluralistic, modern and beautiful country like Australia.
“Why do we need a report to investigate the introduction of a policy that would have the impact of intimidating a minority group?”
The City of Sydney report into its divestments is due to report back to councillors by October and will include advice on any legislative and/or legal considerations that may affect the council’s ability to implement restrictions.
Liberal councillors Shauna Jarrett and Lyndon Gannon were the only two councillors to vote against the move.
The City of Sydney’s motion has been likened to a 2011 proposal by the former Marrickville council which considered a similar boycott and divestment strategy involving Israel in 2011.
The idea was abandoned after an internal council report showed a boycott would cost ratepayers a minimum of $3.7m.
It is currently unclear how much the implications of a divestment strategy would cost the City of Sydney in 2024.
The City of Sydney has been approached for comment.
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