Several councils in Sydney's inner-west have passed motions over the past 10 days accusing Israel of war crimes for its assault on Hamas strongholds in Gaza.
One of the councils, Marrickville, established a sister city relationship in 2007 with the West Bank town of Bethlehem, whose council is controlled by proscribed terror group Hamas.
According to a motion passed by Marrickville Council last week, Israel is guilty of "the deliberate destruction on (sic) infrastructure and attacks on United Nations facilities".
The motion says Israel should be forced to negotiate directly with Hamas, despite the terror group's declared intention to destroy the Jewish state. It calls for the immediate closure of all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.
A motion passed last week by neighbouring Canterbury council "acknowledges the pain and suffering many Palestinian residents are experiencing as a result of the recent bombing by Israel".
The Canterbury motion "condemns all violence, and is particularly concerned with this disproportionate offensive of Israel".
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief Vic Alhadeff said the motions were "completely unbalanced" and ignored the fact the war between Israel and Gaza was the result of Hamas firing 8000 mortars into Israeli civilian areas "while using Palestinian civilians as human shields".
"The motion also misrepresents the test of proportionality in international law," he said. "What is a country to do in the face of sustained attacks on its population? What government would not act to protect its civilians?"
Independent Marrickville councillor and former mayor Dimitrios Thanos also criticised the council's move, saying it is "not our role to be writing letters to foreign governments stating positions that will be ignored".
Marrickville Greens councillor Cathy Peters rejected the suggestion local councils should be focused on improving services rather than meddling in conflicts.
