Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Canada
Canada: the WJC's fourth-largest Jewish community, relations with "Israel" since 1949, Israeli drones and radars, the 2024 arms-permit freeze, the 2025 sanctions on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, recognition of Palestine in 2025, and Ehud Barak's Canadian contacts
Canada has about 393,000 Jews, the world's fourth-largest Jewish community, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] Canada recognised "Israel" on its founding in 1948 and established diplomatic relations on 11 May 1949; Global Affairs Canada says that support for "Israel" "has been at the core of Canada's Middle East policy since 1948".[2] On 21 September 2025 Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada recognised the State of Palestine.[3]
Jewish community and religious life
History and demography
According to the WJC, Jews were excluded from settling in Canada under French rule and first arrived in Montreal with British soldiers in the early 1760s; the first synagogue, Shaarei Israel, was consecrated there by 1768. Ezekiel Hart became the first Jew elected to a Canadian parliament in 1808, David Croll the first Jewish senator in 1955, and Herbert Gray the first Jewish federal cabinet minister; Irwin Cotler was Minister of Justice from 2003 to 2006, and Rosalie Silberman Abella was the first Jewish woman appointed to the Supreme Court.[1]
The WJC writes that before and during the Second World War Canadian officials met Jewish refugees with "callous indifference and systematic policies intended to prevent Jewish immigration", summed up by the phrase "none is too many". In 1939 more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany on the St. Louis were refused entry by Canada, the United States and Cuba and sent back to Europe.[1]
The Berman Jewish DataBank counts 391,665 Jews, or 1.2 per cent of the population, concentrated mainly in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa.[1]
Communal organisations
- Main article: Zionist movement Canada
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). CIJA is the WJC's Canadian affiliate. It became the community's main national organisation in 2011 after a consolidation that included the former Canadian Jewish Congress, and the WJC says it focuses on "combating antisemitism and educating Canadians about Israel" and has an office in "Israel".[1]
The WJC also lists Canadian Hadassah-Wizo, the youth movements BBYO, Bnei Akiva, Betar and Young Judea Canada, and about 20 Jewish newspapers and journals, including the Canadian Jewish News.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Canada
The WJC names the Rabbinical College of Quebec (Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch) as the country's main centre of rabbinical studies.[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
Global Affairs Canada says that Canada recognised "Israel" on its founding in 1948 and that formal diplomatic relations were established on 11 May 1949. It describes the Canadian Jewish community, which it puts at around 400,000, as "an integral bridge between Canada and Israel", and says about 35,000 Canadian citizens live in "Israel". The two governments have signed a Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership memorandum of understanding covering energy, security, aid, innovation and human rights. Canada has an embassy in Tel Aviv; "Israel" has an embassy in Ottawa and consulates in Montreal and Toronto.[2] The WJC gives the embassy's address as 50 O'Connor Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2.[1] The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records Canada's recognition as dating from January 1949.[4]
On 10 June 2025 the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom announced sanctions on the Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, saying they had "incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights".[5] Canada's regulations froze their assets in Canada and made both men inadmissible to the country.[6]
In his statement recognising the State of Palestine on 21 September 2025, Carney said that "the current Israeli government is working methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established", and that its "sustained assault in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of civilians, displaced well over one million people, and caused a devastating and preventable famine in violation of international law". He said the recognition "in no way compromises Canada's steadfast support for the State of Israel, its people, and their security".[3]
Military ties
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Canada leasing three Israeli Heron drones in 2008 for use in Afghanistan (designated CU-170), buying ten M-2084 air-search radars in 2015, which were produced under licence in Canada and delivered in 2017–2019, and 16 maritime patrol radars for its C-295W aircraft, ordered in 2017. In the other direction SIPRI records five Canadian DHC-1 Chipmunk trainers delivered to "Israel" in 1951 and Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6A engines for Israeli aircraft, including the Eitan (Heron-TP) drone.[7]
On 2 August 2025 the foreign minister, Anita Anand, said that since January 2024 Canada had "refused any new permits for controlled goods that could be used in Gaza", and that existing permits that could have allowed military components to be used there had been frozen in 2024 and remained suspended. She said that a report released on 29 July 2025 about Canadian arms exports contained claims that were "misleading and significantly misrepresent the facts": items identified as "bullets" were paintball-style projectiles, and no mortars had been shipped to "Israel" from Canadian manufacturers since before permits were suspended.[8]
Trade
The Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement, in force since 1997 and modernised in 2019, was Canada's first free trade agreement outside North America. Global Affairs Canada puts two-way merchandise trade at more than $2.1 billion in 2025, Canadian direct investment in "Israel" at $2.8 billion and Israeli direct investment in Canada at $3.9 billion.[2] The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $565.8 million from Canada in 2025 (2024: $439.3 million) and exported goods worth $615.0 million to it (2024: $554.5 million).[9]
Political interference
UN voting
Canada voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[10]
Ehud Barak's emails
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[11]
- Vancouver Hebrew Academy, 2012. On 4 December 2012, as Barak prepared to leave Israeli politics, the National Speakers Bureau in Canada wrote to his Knesset address that its client the Vancouver Hebrew Academy was interested in hiring him for a speaking engagement the following year, and asked his fee.[12]
- MDA Corporation, 2014. On 17 March 2014 Daniel Friedmann, writing from an MDA Corporation address, arranged a call with Barak after "a busy trip"; Barak asked to be reminded to call "Daniel F."[13]
- Fortune Energy and ColumbusNova, 2014. On 29 April 2014 an executive of Fortune Energy, which uses a Canadian web address and gave meeting times in Calgary time, told Barak's office that he had scheduled a second call with representatives of ColumbusNova. Barak replied that "Intrater is Andrew ( Andy) not Jimmy".[14] On 30 April the executive wrote to Barak that the call "went very well" and that a ColumbusNova representative had made "the decision to proceed with Due Diligence".[15]
- Calgary, 2014. On 23 July 2014 Barak wrote to Boris Collardi of the bank Julius Baer: "I'm flying long hours on my way back from Calgary to Israel."[16]
- Ezer Mizion, Toronto, 2015. On 16 March 2015 the Israeli charity Ezer Mizion sent Barak, through an aide, the programme for its event in Toronto and suggested points for his speeches to the VIP guests and to the wider event. It said it had reserved a written interview with the Canadian Jewish News and a television interview with the CBC.[17]
Jeffrey Epstein
Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the Jeffrey Epstein files include the following.
- On 3 April 2020 the US Department of Justice asked the United Kingdom, under the mutual legal assistance treaty, to help it interview Prince Andrew about two criminal investigations. The request said that US authorities were investigating Peter Nygard, "a Canadian citizen", and others for "involvement in an international sex trafficking ring victimizing adult women and minor girls", including at "Nygard's estate in Lyford Cay, Bahamas, referred to as 'Nygard Cay'". It said that "on at least one occasion, Prince Andrew travelled to Nygard Cay in the Bahamas", that he was "not presently a target" of the investigation, and that no charges had been filed against Nygard as of that date.[18]
See also
- Zionist movement Canada
- Chabad Lubavitch of Canada
- UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Mexico
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Cuba
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Jamaica
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to the Bahamas
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 World Jewish Congress, Community in Canada worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Global Affairs Canada, Canada-Israel relations international.gc.ca, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Prime Minister of Canada, Statement by Prime Minister Carney on Canada's recognition of the State of Palestine pm.gc.ca, 21 September 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ Global Affairs Canada, Joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom on measures targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich canada.ca, 10 June 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Canada Gazette, Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Extremist Settler Violence) Regulations: SOR/2025-137 Canada Gazette, Part II, vol. 159, no. 14, 2 July 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Global Affairs Canada, Statement by Minister Anand on flawed report released earlier this week concerning Canadian arms exports canada.ca, 2 August 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).
- ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Email from the National Speakers Bureau to Ehud Barak, "Speaking Engagement", 4 December 2012, forwarded 5 December 2012, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!49/1 (295).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email exchange between Daniel Friedmann and Ehud Barak, "Touch base DF", 17–18 March 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!37/1 (214).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email exchange between Fortune Energy and Ehud Barak, "Second Call from ColumbusNova", 29–30 April 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!35/1 (384).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Fortune Energy to Ehud Barak, "RE: Second Call from ColumbusNova", 30 April 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!35/1 (380).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Ehud Barak to Boris Collardi, 23 July 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!31/1 (386).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email exchange between Ezer Mizion, an aide and Ehud Barak about the Toronto event (in Hebrew), 16–17 March 2015, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!20/1 (287).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ US Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Office of International Affairs, request to the Central Authority of the United Kingdom, "Request for Assistance in the Matter of Material Witness PA", 3 April 2020, EFTA00099391, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 25 October 2026.