According to Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, “Canada does not stand behind Israel; Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with Israel.” And he’s right. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s leadership, Canada has unquestionably assumed the mantle, previously held by the U.S., of “Israel’s best friend.”
This stems primarily from the fact that Canada’s current government fundamentally understands, and sympathizes with, Israel’s reality and the threats it faces. This was made clear by Mr. Baird’s latest trip to Israel (his third), during which he:
1. Reaffirmed that Canada “believes passionately in Israel’s right not only to exist, but to exist as a Jewish state and to live in peace and security;” 2. “Recognized the long and unbroken history of antiSemitism,” and correctly described as the new antiSemitism the “constant barrage of rhetorical demonization, double standards and delegitimization [of Israel];” 3. Acknowledged that “Israel, today, is a country whose very existence is under attack, both literally and figuratively;” 4. Labeled as “profoundly wrong” the Palestinians’ unilateral attempt to obtain statehood recognition at the United Nations; 5. Reiterated that “[Canada] has no interest in interacting with Hamas. It is a terrorist organization;” 6. Admitted that “it would be easier to…engage[e] in anti-Israeli rhetoric…but Canada will not ‘go along to get along.’”
From Israel’s perspective, Canada “gets” it.
Mr. Harper, for his part, has an equally impressive record. During his tenure, Canada has repeatedly supported Israeli positions in various forums: by infusing a much-needed counterweight to the overwhelming anti-Israel discourse in the UN by routinely casting the lone vote against anti-Israel resolutions, and by twice being the first country (preceding even Israel) to announce a boycott of the UN’s anti-Israel Durban Conference; by slashing its contribution to UNRWA, the organization founded to perpetuate the Palestinian “refugee” crisis; by steadfastly supporting Israel’s legitimate “blockade” of the Gaza Strip, and, in 2006, by becoming the first country to cut off financial aid to the “democratically” elected Hamas government; and by refusing to criticize Israeli “settlement” construction in the Jewish people’s biblical heartland.
More recently, at a summit last summer in Deauville, France, Mr. Harper defied the overwhelming pressure exerted upon him by seven of the world’s most powerful countries and refused to include in the G8 leaders’ final communiqué any reference to an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders (not as a stipulation for signing an “historic” peace agreement with the Palestinians, mind you, but rather as a precondition for jump-starting negotiations). In the words of one European diplomat, “The Canadians were really very adamant, even though [US President Barack] Obama expressly referred to 1967 borders.”
Furthermore, Mr. Harper’s government in November became the first country to sign the Ottawa Protocol on Combating AntiSemitism, the guiding principles for which were developed at a summit held in Canada in 2010. At that time, Mr. Harper delivered what is likely the most impassioned speech ever by a foreign head of state on behalf of Israel: “When Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand.… Whether it is at the United Nations, or any other international forum, the easy thing to do is simply to just…go along with this anti-Israeli rhetoric…and to excuse oneself with the label of ‘honest broker.’ There are, after all, a lot more votes, a lot more, in being anti-Israeli.… But, as long as I am Prime Minister…Canada will take that stand, whatever the cost.”
Fitting, then, was Mr. Baird’s assertion on January 30 at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem that “Israel has no greater friend in the world than Canada.” Less fitting, however, is that in spite of Canada’s remarkable and deeply rooted support for Israel, neither Mr. Baird, nor his country, officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Given the current strength of the Canada-Israel relationship, the possibility of moving the Canadian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem should at the very least be reintroduced into the public discourse. Such a gesture would be Mr. Harper’s ultimate legacy to the Jewish people and the Jewish state of Israel.
