The city government of Montreal, Canada, failed to pass a motion on Monday that sought to cut ties between the Canadian city and Israel, instead passing an expression of solidarity with Palestinians.
The city passed the watered-down version of the proposal by a vote of 54-6 after a lengthy debate that highlighted divides in the city government and outside activists.
Montreal’s opposition had backed the motion to cut ties with Israel, but Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrara and her administration had opposed the move, saying foreign relations were the purview of the federal government.
“We are not a government of a national perspective on foreign affairs. That is not our role,” Martinez Ferrara said during a Monday press conference.
The administration proposed amendments to the initial motion, removing the demand that Montreal cut institutional and diplomatic ties with Israel, as well as demands the city denounce “apartheid” and “genocide” by Israel, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
