Former Israeli PM ‘disappointed’ in Canada’s position on Gaza conflict

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett says he is “disappointed” in Canada’s position on Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, arguing Israel is being held to a double standard not shown to others in times of war.

The Canadian government has said it supports Israel’s right to defend itself while saying that “a sustainable ceasefire cannot be one-sided,” and urged Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The House of Commons passed a non-binding motion last month with support from most Liberal MPs that said Canada should cease further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel, which the government later followed through on.

The motion drew condemnation from the Israeli government and resulted in Liberal MP Anthony Housefather publicly mulling his future in the party, before saying he had decided to stay.

In an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block, Bennett criticized Canada’s stance, as well as the restoration of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the primary aid organization in Gaza, after Ottawa temporarily froze it over allegations that UNRWA workers participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

“I’m disappointed,” he told host Mercedes Stephenson. “We expect friends to be with us not when it’s easy, but when it’s tough.

“Do you understand how vital it is that the world supports us in defeating this total evil?”

More than six months after Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel’s western allies have grown sharply critical amid rising Palestinian deaths and a growing humanitarian crisis in the territory.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have