Several members of Toronto’s Jewish LGBTQ community expressed their worry and deep anguish about the direction Israel’s government in a meeting held June 20, to coincide with Pride Month.
The meeting was organized by Gal Hana, the Israeli consulate’s director of tourism, and Yaron Deckel, the Jewish Agency’s regional director.
“The government has the potential of destroying 25 years of hasbara. What the prime minister is doing will have a major impact,” said Noah Zatzman, a political strategist who served as senior adviser for former Green Party Leader Annamie Paul.
The select group of six influential men included lawyers, political strategists and real estate brokers—all with deep ties to Israel. Their concern is with the judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. Also participating in the discussion were two shinshinim, Israeli teenagers on a gap year working in the community. (Deckel said a number of women were invited to the meeting, but they did not attend.)
The recent visit by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli—organized by the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and included a speech at a Canadian evangelical Christian college—was part of the conversation, along with a wish for stronger condemnation from Canadian Jewish organizations.
Cumulatively, the developments make it harder for them to be optimistic that Israel will continue as a progressive, democratic state, some of the participants said.
Historically, the Israeli courts have protected and advanced the rights of minorities, said Darren Sukonick, a lawyer and former partner at Torys LLP, who is now a principal at Matthew Sapera Fine Homes. He has served on the board of UJA of Greater Toronto. Court decisions have been solidified by the Knesset, which translated them into legislation.
With the proposed judicial changes, which diminish the court’s power, those advances are in danger of being erased, he said
“LGBTQ couples don’t have the same protection,” Sukonick said. “What do the judicial reforms mean for other rights that might be pared back?”
Same-sex marriages, as well as civil marriages, are not recognized in Israel. The government has registered same-sex marriages performed abroad since 2006. In March 2023, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Interior Ministry is obligated to register married couples, including same sex couples, who wed in online civil ceremonies performed in Utah.
In February 2023, the Knesset opposed a bill that would allow singles and same-sex couples to adopt.
The participants also expressed concern over recent visit by Amichai Chikli who was in Canada in early June on a trip punctuated by two large Christian events: one on Parliament Hill where he met with the Israel Allies Caucus, led by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis, and a gala at Canada Christian College. He also met with Jewish MPs and communal organizations and schools.
The visit was “a slap in the face,” said Evan Pilz, a fundraiser for several political campaigns, including Toronto mayoral candidate Ana Bailão.
Pilz questioned the minister’s motives, and his decision to stand on stage with evangelical leaders “who say I’m going to hell.”
“I’m not sure the psychological damage is easy to repair, it adds to the sense of instability,” he added.
The consulate was not involved in the minister’s trip, Hana said.
However, the Diaspora Affairs Minister did meet with consul staff while he was in Toronto, and they accompanied him to meetings with Jewish leaders. (He also met with the Ambassador in Ottawa, and staff accompanied him to visits with Jewish MPs.)
As ardent Zionists, the participants said they have routinely and reflexively supported Israel when it was under physical attack, demonized or unfairly singled out by international organizations such as the United Nations. But the situation has changed and they are finding it harder to support the Jewish state.
“It isn’t just isolated to our community, a lot of people are questioning whether they can even walk in the UJA Walk with Israel,” said Sukonick.
“Our community institutions, such as UJA and CIJA (Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs) are not vocal enough in pushing back and expressing the community’s concerns,” said Pilz.
“We were always proud of our institutions, that stood in lockstep with Israel. Now we need people saying ‘This is a bridge too far’.
“When you see in the news, there’s another attack, normally we stand shoulder-to-shoulder (with Israel) when civilians are being murdered. It’s harder to muster that reflex.”
Despite the current situation, though, Pilz said, “I haven’t changed as a Jew or as a Zionist.
“What’s happening there hasn’t severed my emotional or spiritual or religious or familial connection to the State of Israel, to the land of Israel, to the people, my fellow Jews who live there.”
Not everyone present felt the situation was as dire as it had been portrayed. Interior designer and television personality Shai DeLuca pointed to the weekly, mass protests in Israel and the fact that although Netanyahu has the votes in the Knesset to pass the judicial reform legislation, the reforms seem to have stalled.
“To see a country come out every week for 29 weeks and to say ’Not on our watch’, we’ve never seen that before. That’s giving me hope and my belief that this is a glitch in our history,” he said.
Not just Israel, but other nations, including the United States and the U.K. have moved farther right politically, he pointed out.
“My plan is to go back home. My concern is what am I going to go back to? But I’m still equal in my country and my marriage is still equal in my country.”
Israel and specifically the consulate need to take influential members of the LGBTQ community, not necessarily Jews, to Israel to explain the complexities of the situation. The consulate also needs to bring Israelis to Canada to speak with the LGBTQ community here, participants said.
Deckel, who represents the Jewish Agency, pointed out that acceptance and equal rights for the LGBTQ community have advanced in Israel over the last 25 years, under right, centre and left-wing governments.
But even Labor and left-leaning governments have not recognized same-sex marriage, or civil marriages, which continue to be controlled solely by religious authorities, he said.
After the meeting, Deckel and Hana painted an optimistic picture, despite the current instability in Israel and the deep concerns expressed.
“I would be more worried if we saw indifference,” Hana said. “We will come out from this situation much stronger than before, because we are dealing with our core values for the first time in a long time.”
Israel has encountered crises before, from threats to its very existence in the 1960s to the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Deckel said.
“There is a controversy. Israel is polarized no doubt, there is a situation which is not easy, but I do hope the State of Israel and the society will be able to overcome.”