Last month, following the eruption of the war in Iran, the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC)) released an ominous report, warning that Canada’s Jewish community faces a violent attack from a lone wolf extremist within the next six months.
ITAC, an independent federal body composed of members from various Canadian intelligence organizations, said that Jewish community centers, schools and synagogues were at risk of being assaulted by an attacker armed with small arms and knives.
ITAC added that the United States’ and Israel’s military campaign in Iran would most likely increase the likelihood that Jewish Canadians would experience “violent rhetoric, hate crime and criminal intimidation.”
ITAC’s report should be viewed with the utmost seriousness.
There has been an upsurge of global antisemitism in the past two-and-a-half years, and Canada has not been immune from this poisonous outburst.
Hamas’ one-day invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023 — a day of infamy during which 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were murdered and 251 were kidnapped and taken into captivity — set off the first wave of antisemitism.
Israel’s subsequent offensive in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized in a coup in 2007, led to more expressions of open antisemitism, which was often cloaked in the guise of anti-Zionism. The high Palestinian civilian death toll in Gaza, plus false accusations that Israel had committed genocide there, worsened the situation.
Since then, the number of antisemitic incidents in Canada has more than doubled. Synagogues in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have been sprayed with gunfire, firebombed or vandalized. Jewish day schools have been attacked. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered menacingly in front of Jewish-owned businesses and in predominately Jewish neighborhoods in Toronto.
These manifestations of anti-Jewish animus have sent shock waves through the Jewish community, the world’s fourth largest, and heightened concerns that it must be better protected.
The days are gone when Canada was regarded as a safe haven for Jewish Canadians.
Reacting to ITAC’s alarming report, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) recently sent Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne a letter requesting additional funds for security. It was released to The Globe and Mail newspaper late last month.
Earlier this year, in the wake of the Bondi Beach massacre of 15 Jews in Australia, the federal government earmarked $11 million to enhance security in Jewish community institutions. These funds were to be distributed by the Canada Community Security Program.
In light of ITAC’s recent warning, CIJA informed Champagne that this sum is insufficient. CIJA’s chief executive officer, Noah Shack, said that Jewish communities across Canada have been spending about $40 million annually on security, forcing cutbacks in social services and education.
“No other community in Canada is required to bear such a burden to ensure basic safety,” he wrote. “These costs continue to rise as threats intensify, creating an immediate and unsustainable funding gap.”
Shack pointed out that Australia and Britain allot far more funds to Jewish community protection than Canada. And he warned, “We cannot wait for a Bondi Beach-type massacre to boost overall funding and support for security infrastructure that would help keep Canadians safe.”
He is absolutely right.
It is incumbent on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to allocate sufficient funds to ease the legitimate fears of the Jewish community.
With the third reading of Bill C-9 in the House of Commons, the government already has taken an important step to that end. The bill, which has yet to be passed by the Senate, would criminalize willful promotion of hatred toward religious and ethnic groups and attempts by individuals to obstruct access to places of worship.
If Canada is to remain a nation that values diversity and respects and honors its minorities, the Senate must pass Bill C-9 as soon as possible and the federal government must respond positively to CIJA’s request for extra funding to protect the Jewish community.