Chrystia Freeland reinforces Ottawa’s “ironclad” commitment to the Jewish state’s security, calls for peace with the Palestinians based on two-state solution
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday praised strong bilateral ties with the Jewish state at an event in Jerusalem organized by the Israel Council on Foreign Relations. Freeland, a member of Justin Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party, is making her first visit to Israel since taking up her post in January 2017.
“Today, we are concerned by efforts that unfairly single out Israel for criticism and seek to isolate it internationally,” Freeland affirmed. “It is time to celebrate the many hard-won accomplishments that Israel has achieved in its seventy-year existence that have allowed it to become the successful country it is.”
She also announced that Prime Minister Trudeau will issue a formal apology for Canada’s decision in 1939 to turn away the MS St. Louis ship carrying 250 Jews trying to escape the Nazi regime. Eighty percent of those aboard would upon their return to Europe subsequently be killed in the Holocaust.
“As the foreign minister said, the relationship with Israel is viewed as a principled and strategic commitment, [one that is not contingent] on what government is in power in Ottawa but, rather, a generic commitment because we are fellow democracies,” Professor Irwin Cotler, former justice minister of Canada, stressed to The Media Line.
“Israel is a partner of Canada in the mission of maintaining a rules-based, liberal-democratic international order,” he elaborated. “This is especially important as we are witnessing a resurgent global authoritarianism that finds expression in the actions of Iran, Russia, Turkey, North Korea and the like. It is crucial that the community of democracies act together.”
Relations between Canada and Israel have remained steady in the wake of Trudeau’s 2015 election victory over Conservative Party head Stephen Harper, who during nearly a decade in power was considered Jerusalem’s strongest supporter. The former Canadian leader assumed an unabashedly pro-Israel stance in international forums such as the United Nations and vocally defended the Jewish state, most notably during the 2006 war against Lebanon-based Hizbullah and again in 2014 when conflict erupted with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Canada’s Liberals, by contrast, have long advocated for a more even-handed approach—that of “honest broker”—in the Middle East and especially vis-à-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is evidenced, for example, by the Trudeau government’s decision to renew funding to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency despite the cut-off of such aid by the previous administration. Whereas the Conservatives, at an August gathering followed United States President Donald Trump’s lead by officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trudeau has refrained from doing so and has no plans to relocate the Canadian embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.
On Tuesday, Freeland met with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and the day after with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as well as President Reuven Rivlin. She also visited Yad Vashem—The World Holocaust Remembrance Center and the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site that is technically located across the “1967 borders” in the eastern part of Jerusalem which the Palestinians claim as the capital of a future state.
During her trip, Canada’s top diplomat repeatedly emphasized her country’s “unwavering and ironclad” commitment to Israel’s security and reinforced the Jewish state’s right to defend itself against terrorist groups.
“Minister Freeland’s words were a profound expression of the very warm relationship between Ottawa and Jerusalem,” Dr. Laurence Weinbaum, Director-General of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, an organization that operates under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress, conveyed to The Media Line. “Her presentation was an important affirmation of the commitment to liberal values which are today under threat in many parts of the world.”
Indeed many of Freeland’s comments focused on human rights, as she weighed in on the “vile” murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and called for an immediate cease-fire in war-torn Yemen. This comes amid a major diplomatic spat with Riyadh, which recently expelled Canada’s ambassador following criticism over the conservative Muslim kingdom’s imprisonment of dissidents.
Freeland was slated to hold talks on Thursday afternoon in the West Bank with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Canadian Ambassador to Israel Deborah Lyons confirmed to The Media Line that the foreign minister was heading a delegation including Representative of Canada to Ramallah Douglas Scott Proudfoot.
“Obviously we’ve said that Canada is friend of the Palestinians, a strong supporter of the Palestinians,” she reiterated, “and now the [foreign] minister will go and meet with her counterparts in Ramallah. It will be another great day in the Middle East.”
In this respect, Freeland has stressed that it is in Israel’s interest to strive for peace, not only so that the Jewish state is no longer viewed through the prism of the conflict but also because this is the best option for ensuring long-term security.
For his part, Prime Minister Netanyahu hailed the “great friendship between Israel and Canada…one that is based on similar values and our commitment to democracy and freedom and liberty and the rule of law.” He also conveyed appreciation for Ottawa’s refusal to establish full diplomatic relations with Iran, and highlighted the many ways that the two nations can cooperate economically in spheres ranging from aerospace to cybersecurity to big data and artificial intelligence.
To this end, the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1996 and came into effect the following year, although it excludes various products, primarily in the agricultural sector. According to government figures, Canadian exports to Israel totaled $450 million in 2017, while imports approached $1.3 billion—leaving lots of room for growth.
The Canadian-Jewish community numbers around 375,000, the fourth-largest in the world after Israel, the United States and France. There are approximately 35,000 Canadian citizens living in Israel.