Canada urged 'not to isolate' Israel

Official looks to secure Ottawa's support at UN, resume export of Canadian military vehicles

- TONDA MACCHARLES

Israel's war cabinet member Benny Gantz, left, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke privately in March before and after a controversial vote in the House of Commons that called on Canada to "'cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel."

Canada should be a more steadfast ally to Israel, says Ronen Gilor, Israel’s special adviser on Canada.

In an exclusive interview with the Star, Gilor pointed to several points of tension between the two countries, including that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Israeli government in March privately there would be “no more deals” to export Canadian-made light armoured vehicles to Israel despite written assurances that the equipment was not for military use in Gaza.

Trudeau delivered that message in a private conversation with Benny Gantz, the former Israeli defence minister who serves in Israel’s wartime cabinet, he said. Gilor portrayed Trudeau’s decision — which has not been explicitly made public nor, sources say, conveyed to the Canadian company that makes the vehicles — as unreasonable. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on his remarks.

The light armoured vehicles, made by Roshel, were for defensive use by police and Israel’s domestic security service in Israel and the West Bank, Gilor said, and that message has been clearly delivered to Ottawa since Oct. 24, weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

“Canada cannot say that they are seeking peace more than we do. We seek peace even more than Canada. Why? Because we have war,” he said.

“And if we tell in Canada we are not going to use (light armoured vehicles) for offence in the Gaza Strip, Canada needs to believe us.”