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The prime minister acknowledged alarming antisemitism but presented no solution and failed to mention Israel and radical Islam in his address to the Jewish community, critics say.
By Atara Beck
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the Jewish community Monday night on rising antisemitism in the country since Oct. 7, 2023, including pro-Palestinian – i.e., antisemitic – marches through Jewish neighborhoods, shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, and more. Canadian Jews are increasingly fearful and see no future for themselves or their families in the country they have always called home, and many have left or are in the process of doing so.
Speaking at Toronto’s Holy Blossom synagogue, Carney acknowledged that “Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians.”
However, “Carney did not mention Israel in the speech, despite Jewish leaders and organizations warning that much of the antisemitism now facing Jewish Canadians is bound up with anti-Zionist hate and efforts to hold Canadian Jews responsible for the actions of a foreign government,” the Canadian Jewish News reported.
“The omission came after Carney’s government condemned actions by the Israeli government over the war in Gaza and recognized the state of Palestine last year — moves that some Jewish Canadians and advocacy groups have said contributed to a political climate in which Jews in Canada are increasingly treated as proxies for Israel.”
Holy Blossom’s Senior Rabbi Yael Splansky, who was unable to attend, delivered a pre-recorded message ahead of the prime minister’s speech, affirming that “when Canadian elected leaders publicly condemn Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, Jewish Canadians pay the price. Canadian civility is being tested now. Canadian values are on trial.”
Mark Sandler, a Canadian criminal defense lawyer and founding chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, told the CJN: “If we don’t call out anti-Zionism as the current form of that hatred — if we don’t acknowledge explicitly and repeatedly that the antisemitism we are experiencing is manifested through anti-Zionism — then I’m afraid the actions taken won’t be effective in countering it. It’s as simple as that.”
“He didn’t mention the word Israel at all,” Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, told the CJN.
“The connection with Israel is so core to our identity. I don’t think a lot of people understand that, and it would have been an opportunity to reinforce that understanding.”
“I’m concerned that we are getting a new government body to assess and engage with antisemitism when what we really need now is not more bureaucracy, but action,” he said. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating — are we going to see the kinds of concrete measures required to move forward with urgency, or are we going to see delay and obfuscation?”
“This was an opportunity for the prime minister to meet the moment,“ B’nai Brith Canada CEO Simon Wolle said in a statement.
“Instead, Canadians heard a speech that described the problem more than it confronted it. The Jewish community did not require another acknowledgment that antisemitism is raging across the country. We needed a plan proportional to the scale of the crisis.
“Canada is not facing an antisemitism awareness problem. Canada has an antisemitism problem. The country has been poisoned with Jew hatred, and we need a remedy.”
‘I’m Not Sure He’s the Right Guy to Fight Antisemitism’
Carney presented his solution: the creation of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, chaired by Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller. However, its creation was already announced in February.
“The Advisory Council will be comprised of prominent Canadians from academia as well as experts and community leaders, with a mission to foster social cohesion, rally Canadians around shared identity, combat racism and hate in all their forms, and help guide the efforts of the Government of Canada,” the announcement read.
What is new is Carney’s statement Monday that combatting antisemitism will be its top priority.
“Acknowledging a crisis is one thing. Giving a real reason for why it’s happening, and explaining how you will stop it, is another. And on both counts, Mr. Carney, you failed miserably. You completely refused to acknowledge that the primary reason antisemitism has exploded in Canada is radical Islam. You refused to admit that your government allowed hundreds of thousands of unvetted, deeply antisemitic individuals into this country, and that they are driving this unprecedented wave of hatred, a wave you yourself said has not been seen in Canada since before the Second World War,” award-winning film producer and director Igal Hecht said in a scathing open letter to the prime minister posted on social media.
Hecht slammed the announcement of the council as the solution.
“So, while Canadian streets are overrun with radical extremists and rampant antisemitism, a committee is going to sit in Ottawa, waste a massive amount of taxpayer money, and eat catered meals,” he scoffed.
More concerning, according to several media reports, is the inclusion of lawyer Avnish Nanda and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on the committee.
Nanda, for example, represented anti-Israel students who were evicted from their illegal encampment at the University of Alberta.
Alghabra is the former president of the Canadian Arab Federation, which, after his tenure, lost federal funding over its support of Hamas and Hezbollah. In 2022, he defended his attendance at a Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group reception attended by Nazih Khatatba, the editor of an Arabic-language newspaper accused of spreading antisemitism.
“I’m not sure he’s the right guy to combat antisemitism,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters in a media scrum on Parliament Hill, accusing Alghabra of previously lobbying to “keep Hezbollah legal” before he got into politics, CBC reported.
“The last thing we need is another council,” Poilievre said. “This is the problem with Mark Carney. Every time there’s a problem, he creates a new bureaucracy, agency, council, that does nothing except pay high per diems and expenses to a bunch of Liberal insiders.”
‘You Did Something Entirely Vile’
Hecht’s letter also indicated that Carney’s “solution” is not merely useless but could, in fact, increase Jew hatred.
“Beyond the idiotic committee proposal, you did something entirely vile,” Hecht wrote. “You brought up Bills C-9 and C-22, explicitly tying them to the fight against antisemitism. Those bills are deeply dangerous in their current forms. They are designed to strip away our Charter rights and turn Canada into a North Korean-style surveillance state, giving the government the power to jail people for content they deem offensive and monitor civilian data for up to a year.
“You stood inside a synagogue and announced to the nation that this is the tool you will use to fight antisemitism. In reality, these bills have absolutely nothing to do with protecting the Jewish community. By tying them together, your narrative shifts the blame: Suddenly, the public message is that ‘the Jews are behind the censorship bills.’”
“You know, Mr. Carney, as you were leaving, I went outside and ran into some conservative reporters who were barred from entering,” Hecht added. He was likely referring to journalist David Menzies and other Rebel News reporters.
“It turns out there was a curated list of ‘acceptable’ Jewish organizations allowed into the building and a separate list for those deemed ‘not the right kind of Jews.’ The exact same rule applied to the press: a hand-picked list of compliant media, while the journalists who actually do their jobs and ask hard questions were locked out on the sidewalk,” Hecht wrote.
The prime minister reportedly did not take questions at the event.
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