Israeli President on Response to Canadian Antisemitic Attacks: ‘Words Are Not Enough’

December 23, 2024

by: Joshua Spurlock ~ Mideast Update

Monday, 23 December 2024 | Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday that “words would not suffice” as the response to antisemitic attacks in Canada, following another “abhorrent” firebombing of a synagogue and a Jewish non-profit organization building in Montréal. Herzog publicly issued the strongly-worded summary of his call with Trudeau after what was the second attack on the Beth Tikvah synagogue and Federation CJA building—and the seventh targeting of a Jewish institution in Montréal—since October 2023.

The conversation summary published by Herzog’s office and posted to X (formerly Twitter) said he reiterated to the Canadian leader “my great concern over the intolerable wave of antisemitic attacks against the Canadian Jewish community. I stressed that words would not suffice, and that firm and decisive action must be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice, to stamp out antisemitism, and to educate and legislate in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the Jewish community.”

Trudeau, in his own summary of the call published to the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office website, said they discussed the “disturbing rise in antisemitism” and “strongly condemned the attack against the Jewish community that took place in Montréal.” Trudeau also “underscored” that the Canadian government will “advance its fight against antisemitism and stand against all forms of hate. He stressed that Jewish Canadians deserve to feel safe, supported, and welcomed.”

However, the uptick in antisemitism in Canada since the Hamas terror massacre against Israel on October 7, 2023 calls into question how effective the Canadian governing bodies have been in addressing the threat. That was a concern voiced directly by the President and CEO of Federation CJA Yair Szlak.

“Over the last 14 months, this is the seventh instance where a Jewish institution has been targeted in Montréal and the second time these specific institutions were targeted, chilling reminders of what happens when politicians fail to call out antisemitism and prevent the escalation of violence on our streets, said Szlak in comments published to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) website. The Federation CJA leader went on to call upon Montréal Mayor Valerie Plante “to crack down immediately on the unacceptable rise in antisemitism in Montréal.”

Plante, for her part, issued a statement on X translated from French by Google, calling antisemitic acts “criminal acts” and saying that Montréal police would “find the culprits.” She further said that “is intolerable that Montréal citizens live in insecurity because of their religion.”

Montréal wasn’t the only Canadian city impacted by an antisemitic attack last week. The Jewish Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School in North York was shot in a drive-by shooting on Friday. The school was not in session and there were no injuries reported according to a report posted to the Toronto Police Service website, although the building was damaged. It was the third shooting attack against the school this year, and occurred even after Toronto police arrested two suspects from a prior shooting, according to a separate article on the Toronto Police Service website.

Canada as a whole had a 71% increase in police-reported hate crime against Jews in 2023 from the prior year—leading to Jews being the most targeted group in Canada for the year. The July 2024 summary of the prior year’s data from Statistics Canada published by the CIJA, said that not only did Jews suffer 19% of all hate crimes in 2023, a shocking 70 percent of all religiously-motivated hate was directed at Jews.

Despite the latest attacks that highlight the ongoing threat to Jews in Canada, Szlak was resolute. “Our community is outraged, but we are also determined in our demand for action,” Szlak was quoted in the CIJA press release as saying. “We know that the silent, moderate majority in Quebec is disgusted by the extremism and violence targeting our community and threatening our society. We expect the authorities to treat this incident with the highest level of scrutiny and consider all likely motives. Enough is enough.”

Herzog, in prior comments on last week’s Montréal attack posted to X on Wednesday, issued a similar call to action. Herzog said the “appalling antisemitic attack” was “yet another example of the vile wave of violence, hatred, and intimidation to which Jews in Canada—and all over the world—have been subjected in recent weeks and months.

“The world must wake up, words are not enough: synagogues burned, Jews attacked—NEVER AGAIN IS NOW. Following this terrible attack especially, I call on the Canadian government to act decisively, and show that such hatred will not be tolerated.”

Posted on December 23, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Mideast Update on December 22, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon / Government Press Office of Israel/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia