San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee

The San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee () was established in 1973 between the city governments of San Francisco, California and Haifa, Israel. The expressed purpose of the Committee is to support “…exchanges in such fields as science, medicine, environmental technology, commerce, art and culture, public health, sports, tourism and others to promote prosperity and contribute toward the development of deeper bonds of mutual understanding between the citizens of the respective cities.”
Early history
On Tuesday, June 2, 1973, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the resolution establishing “the creation of a sister city affiliation between San Francisco and the City of Haifa, State of Israel...”
Joseph Alioto was the mayor of San Francisco when the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee was founded.
Annette Dobbs was a leader in the San Francisco Jewish Community who led "the successful effort to establish Haifa as a sister city to San Francisco."
In 1981, Annette Dobbs described the purpose of the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee as "designed to promote travel, trade, cultural exchanges, and international understanding."
Since its inception, the Committee has been chaired by such individuals as lawyer Steve Swig, Annette Dobbs, Holocaust Survivor William J. Lowenberg, and former President of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties Alan Rothenberg. The current Chairman of the Committee is attorney Arthur Wachtel.
The Committee was active in strengthening the ties between the cities of San Francisco and Haifa.
“To celebrate the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City relationship, a major exhibition was organized in 1984 at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Entitled "Crossroads of the Ancient World: Israel's Archaeological Heritage," the exhibition featured artifacts from Roman times excavated at the ancient port of Caesaria...After the inaugural exhibition in San Francisco, "Crossroads of the Ancient World" traveled to the Semitic Museum at Harvard and to several other American cities.”
By the 1990s, the sister city program had pretty much died off. As Mr. William J. Lowenberg put it in an interview conducted by Eleanor Glaser on March 9, 1994:
:“I think the whole sister city program has kind of died off. I don't know if the funds have dried up. But it was well meaning, it had great purpose because we were talking to the city government of Haifa. Specifically we had arranged meetings here with our public utility departments, our water departments, to bring that knowledge into Haifa. We had visits from members of the Haifa city government. I remember the mayor. The local staff people here were extremely helpful, except we had no money to spend, and we tried to do it as best we could.
:There was an exhibit here at one time from Haifa, maritime archaeology. It was a very nice exhibit which was brought to San Francisco because of the sister city program. So it served a purpose but had a very short life.”
On May 5th, 2008, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the San Francisco-Haifa sister city alliance, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav “…signed a declaration strengthening ties and enhancing the sister city relationship between the two cities.”
:“The declaration establishes that the City of San Francisco and the City of Haifa, on the basis of friendly cooperation, equality and mutual benefit, will work together to promote and broaden the cultural, academic and economic relations between the two cities. Both Mayors reaffirmed their commitment to work together to carry out exchanges in such fields as science, medicine, environmental technology, commerce, art and culture, public health, sports, tourism and others to promote prosperity and contribute toward the development of deeper bonds of mutual understanding between the citizens of the respective cities.”
Major events
Since Arthur Wachtel became Chairman of the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee, three major events co-sponsored by the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee have taken place between San Francisco and Haifa: The mayor of Haifa came to visit San Francisco, The Haifa Basketball Team “Maccabi Haifa” came to the Bay Area, and a San Francisco Delegation went to Haifa to mark the 40th anniversary of the formation of the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee.
Haifa mayor comes to San Francisco
In November 2010, Haifa mayor Yona Yahav visited "San Francisco in honor of the San Francisco-Haifa sister city relationship." Among the events was a forum on Friday, November 19, 2010 where Mr. Yahav spoke at the World Affairs Council of Northern California in San Francisco about “Haifa as a model of coexistence in the Middle East.” During his speech, Mr. Yahav had this to say:
:“Haifa is a very unique place. First of all it is extremely beautiful. It reminds of San Francisco. That is the reason why the two cities are twins. But it’s not only physically nice, the fabric of the people is also outstanding. What is outstanding about the fabric of the people is that all parts, all sectors within the Haifa society are living in full peace more than 100 years. It’s not me that I started it. As far as I understand the history of the city the person who started this liberalism and openness was the first Muslim Mayor in 1900. His name was Hassan Shukri.”
Maccabi Haifa in the Bay area
On October 10 at the Betty Ong Chinese Recreation Center in San Francisco’s Chinatown, San Franciscan teens took part in a free basketball clinic with professional Israeli basketball players. “This was all part of ‘Haifa Hoops for Kids,’ an event that raise money for a nonprofit in Northern Israel serving disadvantaged and special needs children.”
Haifa Hoops for Kids, a joint initiative between Maccabi Haifa and United Jewish Communities of Metrowest New Jersey, “has brought over 11,000 underprivileged and special needs children in northern Israel to Maccabi Bazan Haifa home games to experience a night of fun with some of Europe’s leading basketball stars.”
On Wednesday, October 11, Maccabi Haifa played the Golden State Warriors at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. More than 8,000 fans attended the game which ended with a Warriors’ victory of 108-100.
SF delegation goes to Haifa for 40th anniversary
An official delegation from San Francisco visited its sister city in Israel in late May, marking the 40th anniversary of the formation of the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee.
“The purpose of the visit to Haifa was to share knowledge and information about emergency preparedness, according to a press release.
The local delegation was led by Arthur Wachtel, who chairs the S.F.-Haifa sister city committee, and included engineer Fuad Sweiss, San Francisco’s deputy director for infrastructure design and construction, and Anita Lee, wife of Mayor Ed Lee. Other travelers to the port city included emergency management personnel, health officials and retired military.”
Other events
Other events co-sponsored by the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee have taken place. For example, an Israeli artist performed at Stanford University, there was a film screening of ’’ Kumasi Haifa’’ at the Museum of the African Diaspora, there was a Luncheon for the American Friends of Rambam Hospital, and the Israeli Peace Team played soccer in Marin.
Israeli artist Rita at Stanford University
On Saturday, November 03, 2012, Israeli-Persian superstar Rita performed at Stanford University. “The dynamic and sultry singer has made a quiet statement against saber-rattling bluster and political oppression, bringing the distinctive pleasures of her Persian family’s songs and celebrations to life with striking, fresh arrangements.” Rita also performed at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto, California. She sang in both Hebrew and Persian.
==== Film screening of "Kumasi Haifa" at the Museum of the African Diaspora ====
On April 18, 2013, "Kumasi Haifa," “a 2012 documentary directed by Roy Krispel that tells the story of early childhood education in Ghana and Israel and how they came together make a difference” showed at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, California.
A luncheon for the American Friends of Rambam Hospital
On May 22, 2013, the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee, and the Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest Region hosted the American Friends of Rambam Hospital Luncheon in San Francisco.
Israeli Soccer Team in the Bay area
On June 5, 2013, the Israeli Peace Team played The Real Marin Club in a soccer match for peace. “The Israeli Peace Team is an over-35 squad composed of former professional players and some former players from Israel’s national team. The team includes Israelis of Jewish, Islamic, Christian and Druze heritage.
One of the big names on the roster is the head coach, Rifaat “Jimmy” Turk, 58, the first Israeli Arab to play for the Israeli national team. He also played for Israel in the 1976 Summer Olympics and went on to forge a political career, getting elected deputy mayor of Tel Aviv in 2003.”

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