Israel slams arms sale ban as Trudeau caves to minority party: 'history will judge' Canada 'harshly'
Canada has announced it will not export weapons to Israel anymore, drawing immediate condemnation from the Israeli government.
"It's regrettable that the Canadian government is taking a step that undermines Israel's right to self-defense against Hamas terrorists, who have committed terrible crimes against humanity and against innocent Israeli civilians, including the elderly, women, and children," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X.
"History will judge Canada's current action harshly," Katz added. "Israel will continue to fight until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are returned home."
The minority left-leaning New Democrats Party (NDP) in Canada drafted the initial motion to stop all future arms exports to Israel, but the government embraced the measure of its minority partner, The Times of Israel reported.
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The original motion included a cease-fire measure, recognition of a Palestinian state and a weapons sales suspension, but the government negotiated several key changes, including a change to only seek the "establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution," the Toronto Star reported.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, on Monday, March 6, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals Party and the NDP continued negotiating until the last moment on language and changes to different measures, such as adding a call for Hamas to disarm in order to include a call for a cease-fire.
A key language change from ending the trade of all "military goods and technology" to ending "the further authorization and transfer of arms exports." Both versions justified the measure as a concern that arms could end up in terrorist hands, saying that the motion aimed to "stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas."
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Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed that the government would end future sales of weapons to Israel, telling reporters, "It is a real thing" after the cabinet voted in support of the modified resolution.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz attends during a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers at the EU Council headquarters in Brussels on Jan. 22, 2024. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Joly called the changes significant and not merely symbolic, and she warned that while the weapons ban will serve as policy, it remains to be seen how far it would extend in practice, The Toronto Star reported – partially because military gear exported to Israel is modified and shipped back for use by the Canadian armed forces.
Canada paused the export of non-lethal military gear to Israel since January as Trudeau, who has repeatedly asserted Israel’s right to defend itself, continues to take increasingly critical stances over the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.
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Meanwhile, Canada has been engulfed by probably the worst outbreak of antisemitism in its country’s history. Casey Babb, who teaches courses on terrorism and international security at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, told Fox News Digital that Canada has recently seen "unprecedented and horrific anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric and decision-making."
"The last time things in this country were so overtly injurious to the Jewish community, was when the government turned away Jews fleeing the Holocaust in the 1930's and 1940's," Babb argued. "While Israel is in a fight for its very survival on multiple fronts, and while it is waging a war against one of the most sadistic groups of people to ever walk the earth, Canada has decided now is a good time to halt arms sales and push for a two-state solution."
Pro-Palestinian protesters march during a rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
"It's hard to put into words how spineless and duplicitous these decisions are," Babb said, adding that "It's no wonder why the West is experiencing the worst surge in antisemitism it's seen in three-quarters of a century."
"When you signal to Islamists you have their back, when you signal to terrorists that their barbarism works, and when you signal to Jews their greatest value is being political pawns, you're going to see what we're experiencing today," Babb continued. "It must be said, and it must be acknowledged that these decisions are primarily hurting the hostages."
"Canada is essentially saying to them - just as it has said over the last five months - you're on your own," he said. "The government is telling children in the tunnels of Gaza - you had it coming."
Earlier in March, hundreds of anti-Israel protesters surrounded the Montreal Holocaust Museum and blocked access to a group of Israeli army reservists who were slated to speak. The antisemitic mob reportedly chanted "Death to Israel, death to the Jews."
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The NDP has proven critical to keeping Trudeau in power, signing an agreement in March 2022 in which the NDP agreed to support the Liberals on key votes in exchange for action on NDP policy priorities. The agreement will last until 2025, when the next federal election will take place, and at which point the NDP has ruled out any possibility of a coalition government, CTV reported.
"That’s off the table," NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told The Canadian Press during a year-end interview in Dec. 2023. "That's not something that we're focused on. We're focused on getting enough done in this Parliament and then running to win."
Fox News Digital's Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
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