It’s been a tumultuous week in diplomatic relations between Israel, Canada and the United States.
The most shocking news, of course, has been the recent murder of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, D.C., who were gunned down on May 21 by a man calling for “Free Palestine”. Amid the international condemnations, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated and appalled” by the attack, calling it “a violent act of antisemitism.”
But even before that incident, Carney was making news in Israel. Canada joined France and the United Kingdom in threatening sanctions against the Jewish State over expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and “concrete actions” if it did not stop the renewed military campaign in Gaza and begin allowing aid in to feed the Palestinians in Gaza. Carney’s new minister of foreign affairs, Anita Anand, made similar condemnations. And while Israel did begin allowing aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, hours after the joint statement, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare press conference and openly promoted American president Donald Trump’s plan to push Palestinians out of Gaza and take complete control of the strip.
And in the midst of all this, members of the Israel Defense Forces fired warning shots near a group of foreign diplomats—including two Canadians—in the West Bank city of Jenin. As a result, Anand formally “summoned” Israel’s ambassador to Canada for a meeting on May 21.
If you can’t keep all the chaos straight, we don’t blame you. That’s why The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner wanted to sit down with Artur Wilczynski, a former Canadian ambassador and diplomat—and a veteran security and intelligence expert—to help make sense of what feels like one of the most dangerous political weeks in recent memory. Carney’s new government has put its foot down against Israel, punching above its weight on the international stage. What should we make of this? What concerns should Canadian Jews have about Israel and Canada’s longstanding friendship?
Listen to the full conversation above.
Transcript
Ellin Bessner: That’s what it sounded like in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night when police arrested the 30-year-old man suspected and charged with murdering two staff members from the Israel Embassy in the American capital. And when he was done, you heard him yell, “Free Palestine.” The execution of the pair sent shockwaves around the Jewish and Israeli world and in diplomatic circles too. Missions from Israel are flying their flags at half mast, and there have been several memorial services and vigils held in Canada by members of the Jewish community.
Police forces in Canada are announcing they’re beefing up security patrols in Jewish neighbourhoods. Prime Minister Mark Carney sent his condolences, called the attack “a violent act of antisemitism”, and pledged to protect the Jewish community in Canada by bringing in bubble legislation and boosting funding for security systems at local synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centres.
Some commentators, including Carney, blame the attack on the rampant and toxic antisemitic incitement and rhetoric against Jews and Israel. But in Israel, some Knesset members felt that Carney is being a hypocrite. In fact, according to Israel’s Diaspora Minister, Amichai Chikli, he took aim directly at Western countries and mentioned Carney specifically and also the leaders of France and Great Britain. Chikli said they “emboldened the forces of terror through their failure to draw moral red lines. This cowardice has a price, and that price is paid in Jewish blood.” He was referring to that joint communique which the three nations issued on Monday, May 19, rebuking Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in Gaza intolerable and threatening sanctions for settlements in the West Bank. It’s a diplomatic salvo for which Hamas subsequently thanked Canada. And ever since, it seems, there have been a series of worrisome developments in Canada’s historic good relationship with the State of Israel, including this week when Canada’s Foreign Minister officially summoned the Israeli ambassador to her department to explain why the IDF fired warning shots near a delegation of foreign diplomats, including some Canadians, who were touring Jenin in the West Bank, an event the Prime Minister denounced during a news conference.
Mark Carney: We expect a full investigation. We expect an immediate explanation of what happened. It’s totally unacceptable. It’s some of many things that are totally unacceptable that’s going on in the region.
Ellin Bessner: I’m Ellin Besner, and this is what Jewish Canada sounds like for Friday, May 23, 2025. Welcome to The CJN Daily, a podcast of the Canadian Jewish News, made possible in part thanks to the generous support of the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s been in office now for just over three weeks. But some observers are calling the new Liberal government’s diplomatic position and scolding of Israel as a much more forceful position than Canada’s taken in years. Before this, before October 7th, it’s been nearly 30 years since diplomatic tensions have flared up like this between Canada and Israel.
Back in 1997, Canada recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv after it was discovered that the Mossad used fake Canadian passports in a botched attempt to assassinate a former Hamas leader in Jordan.
Summoning an ambassador isn’t unheard of in our country’s history either, but it usually applies to dictatorships: the envoys from Russia and China were recently summoned to account for themselves about targeted assassinations on our soil and foreign interference. India too. But summoning the Israeli ambassador, Iddo Moed now? It was because of this shooting near the diplomats touring Jenin in the West Bank. Canada was part of a wave of countries who summoned their Israeli ambassadors over this incident.
So what’s behind all of it, including Canada’s seemingly harder line policy on Israel? For answers, we turn to Artur Wilczynski. He’s a retired Canadian ambassador to Norway, a career diplomat with extensive experience at Global Affairs Canada, and an expert in international security and intelligence. And he joins me now from Ottawa.
Artur Wilczynski: Thanks very much for having me.
Ellin Bessner: Well, we need you because it’s been a fraught three, four, five days, politically, diplomatically, and of course, tragically. Our listeners will have followed the horrific murders in Washington. These were diplomatic staff. When a person is part of an ambassador’s staff or embassy staff, what security measures are in place? Now, of course, Canada is a whole different situation in terms of security. When you’re abroad with embassies, in terms of when you go out from the embassy and you’re at an event, what is usually in place to protect people?
Artur Wilczynski: So it really depends on where you are, so that the security protocols around the world would vary. But security protocols for Israeli diplomatic staff, regardless of where they are, are undoubtedly very high. Given the war in Gaza, given the role that international terrorist organizations play, given the, quite frankly, the incitement against Israelis and Jews that is taking place around the world, there would have been a very high level of vigilance. So there would have been background, kind of briefings on security that are regular and security protocols that embassy staff would have. But I think that it really does also depend on the kind of event and the location that people are going to. And I think in Washington for Israeli staff, Washington would have been considered comparatively safe and a Jewish event that wasn’t necessarily tied to the embassy would have been one where they would have been advised to be vigilant. Because, again, all Jewish events are highly securitized these days because of what we talked about, because of the incitement, because of the antisemitism, because of the targeting. But there wouldn’t have necessarily been an exceptionally high over the baseline for being in public in Washington for Israeli diplomats.
Ellin Bessner: How would they even know to get these two when there was a whole bunch of Jews there? I don’t understand why they picked.
Artur Wilczynski: There’s no indication that the perpetrator. I haven’t read any indication that the perpetrator even knew that these were individuals affiliated with the Israeli Embassy in Washington. It’s why I think that this is absolutely. It’s an antisemitic hate crime at the very least, because this is a person who went to an event at a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., and opened fire. So it goes to the broader risk and broader threats against all Jewish targets in North America. It’s not just about Israelis.
Ellin Bessner: Our listeners and you may have read this last couple of hours, there’s been lots of reaction. Israel’s Diaspora Minister directly called out incitement from what Canadian, the UK and France’s statement on the long Victoria Day weekend rebuking Israel and said, “This is what you did, which is why our people were killed.” How likely is that, in security terms, that this guy sort of got activated and said, “I’m going to go kill somebody because Canada signed a statement.”
Artur Wilczynski: So I think that that’s highly unlikely. I think that there’s enough incitement that’s been going on over the past number of years. An environment where people are shouting “Globalize the intifada”, shouting “From the river to the sea”, targeting Jewish institutions across North America and Europe, going into Jewish neighbourhoods. I think it was only a matter of time before that broader incitement that is taking place within the anti-Zionist movement. That is the problem. I think that Minister Chikli from Israel is perhaps engaging in a little bit of partisanship and political posturing. There’s a lot to criticize in terms of the Canadian, French, and British statements. But I think that to lay the blame of these murders on a diplomatic statement issued by three of Israel’s friends, to be blunt, is inappropriate and is unhelpful on the part of the Israeli minister.
Now, again, I go back, there’s a lot that needs to be done, and there is a whole lot of incitement taking place against Israelis and Jews in general, and the governments of Canada, the government of France, the government of the UK are all, I think, guilty of not doing enough to tackle the questions of incitement to violence that a lot of these demonstrations and a lot of the hyperbolic criticism of the war in Gaza has engaged in. But the statement itself, I don’t think that’s relevant. I’d be more interested in the statement that was made by the head of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations that said just a couple of days prior that 14,000 babies were in imminent danger of dying in the next 48 hours. Now, something like that could trigger someone because it was high profile; it was repeated in mainstream media and.
Ellin Bessner: But it’s not true, as we found out later, it could happen over the next four years .
Artur Wilczynski: It was a lie. But that I think as a point that could motivate someone who is already predisposed and already radicalized to commit violence.
Ellin Bessner: Okay, so let’s talk about that May 19th statement. They use the word egregious, intolerable. They also talked balanced about Hamas being a terrorist. They have to lay down their arms that the heinous crime of October 7th. But they basically threatened sanctions. When you see Canada threatening sanctions and using strong language, this is Carney’s first big Middle East policy statement. What do we make of this? How big a pivot is it? Or is it more of Trudeau but just doubling down?
Artur Wilczynski: No, I actually do think that this is a pivot. I think that this is the current government, the Prime Minister, Carney, putting his stamp on aspects of Canadian foreign policy that are more critical of Israel and the Israeli government than Prime Minister Trudeau was. There are a number of reasons behind it. That sort of the relationship that he’s trying to foster with France and the UK, the fact, quite frankly, that even the Trump administration is making noises about being more critical of Israeli tactics in Gaza, I think created a more permissive environment for Carney to lean forward in with two of his close global political allies in criticism of the Netanyahu government. The language that was used and the way that statement was framed, I think, is problematic for all kinds of reasons. And its timing also was not particularly helpful. And the fact that one of the things that, for me, I think that was also a missed opportunity on the part of the Canadian, British, and French governments was to try and amplify the voices of those Gazans right now that are protesting on the streets of Gaza, not against Israel, but against Hamas. And I think that this would have been an opportunity to perhaps behind closed doors, tell the Israeli government to mitigate or try to at least not aggravate certain elements and to amplify the voices of those Palestinians who want to see Hamas gone. Because that’s the strategic objective that Israel wants. It’s the same strategic objective that Canada says it wants, and it’s the strategic objective that many of our allies have said it wants. So the fact that it really, that public statement focused exclusively on Israel or mostly on Israel in that context, I don’t think was particularly helpful, and I understand people’s deep concern about it.
Ellin Bessner: This came just, let’s say, 24 hours before a bunch of diplomats walk us through this. How does this happen in Ramallah? You have a big group of 16 or 20 foreign diplomats, locals. And how does this work? They go on a tour with the Ramallah Palestinian Authority. Isn’t this always like completely organized before security’s done before their routes should be known? How does this work? How could this, something like this happen?
Artur Wilczynski: So the Canadian delegation in Ramallah, we have a head of office in Ramallah, I’ve visited that, that office in the past, and sort of the security protocols associated with it are quite stringent. Movements associated within the area are quite structured because there are flare-ups and violence, and we’re in a particularly precarious situation right now where there have been significant flare-ups, where Israeli forces have been going after various terrorist actors in the West Bank. And there’s also a general degradation of the security situation. We’re also, to be blunt, seeing, you know, very problematic activities on the part of some settlers who are committing violence. So I think that.
Ellin Bessner: And then the woman who was going to have a baby, and she was shot, they were looking for her murderers while they were in there. That’s what was going on. So it’s like Israel’s in the middle of a war effort. And how did these diplomats decide they’re going to go on a tour?
Artur Wilczynski: This would have, you know, again, I don’t know. I don’t have a tonne of the specificity of who the approvals were. But it would not surprise me that a visit to certain areas was being organized by the Palestinian Authority and that this should have been coordinated better with the IDF if they were operating with Shin Bet. If folks had deviated from an agreed-upon itinerary or if they were going into an area where there were imminent or ongoing operations, quite frankly, warning shots would have been the most effective way to convey “Don’t come this way”. I hadn’t heard any reports that the firing was at the delegation. But again, this is a very, very rough area where diplomats need to be particularly cautious, where we have a duty of care responsibility as the government of Canada to our diplomats to make sure that we don’t expose them unnecessarily to harm. I think it’s really important for not only the Israelis to tell Canada what it was up to, but for us to understand from the Canadian mission in Ramallah what kind of security measures it took in order to ensure the safety and security of our state staff in the middle of this very tumultuous and particularly precarious time in, in the West Bank. No.
Ellin Bessner: As a diplomat though, would you be wearing flak jackets? Would you be wearing helmets? Didn’t look like they were.
Artur Wilczynski: So again, all of this should be the subject of a security assessment that is undertaken by the mission security officer in partnership with local authorities to understand what the threats are and risks are. When we participate in these kinds of multilateral efforts, where there are a number of countries that work together, usually the security officers coordinate amongst themselves to make sure that any kind of intelligence that they have around threats in the area is shared so that there can be cooperation around mitigating those threats. And if that means wearing a flak jacket, that means wearing a flak jacket and a helmet. It’s a rough moment in time in the West Bank. I think that diplomats have a responsibility to exercise caution, to make sure that they take appropriate risks and that the risks they take are commensurate with the benefit that accrues for Canadian foreign policy and for Canadian interests in the region.
Ellin Bessner: We heard that the Global Affairs minister has “summoned: the Israeli Ambassador to explain what the heck is going on, and Mark Carney also said it the other night after a cabinet meeting. What does that mean when you are summoned as a foreign envoy?
Artur Wilczynski: No, it’s not, it’s not a good thing. Usually, when an official summons is requested, you get a diplomatic note from the Foreign Ministry requesting your urgent presence at a certain time and place to meet with certain officials. So, it’s a pretty formal notification—”Come here, we’re going to have a chat”.
Usually like a formal summons where the statement is issued in public by the head of government, by the Prime Minister, or by the Foreign Minister. It’s very serious. That’s a high-level acknowledgment of displeasure.
There are two audiences there. The first audience, and I think the primary audience, is Canadians, because I think Canadians, in this case, had seen the media reports of what happened. I think this was a political act on the part of the government to convey to Canadians that it was treating this incident, where Canadian diplomats were at risk, seriously. That’s why the Prime Minister said it after the cabinet retreat very publicly. The Israelis, or any diplomat who receives an official summons after an incident like that, understand that they’re going to get a talking to. What happens behind closed doors really depends on how much information was already available to Canadian sources about understanding the complexity of what happened on the ground and conveying to the Israelis displeasure about certain elements and seeking a more formal explanation of what happened. Getting an explanation from the Israelis about what happened is completely legitimate. That’s an appropriate kind of question to have after members of your diplomatic corps have been exposed to fire. I don’t think that’s necessarily an egregious violation of principles with our Israeli friends.
Ellin Bessner: But it doesn’t mean like they’re getting kicked out of Ottawa like the Chinese get summoned and then get expelled, or the Russians or the Iranians. So, where does this go on the scale now?
Artur Wilczynski: This is way lower. This isn’t a declaration of diplomats as Persona Non Grata. This isn’t around severing ties. This is about formally conveying concern and displeasure with a particular situation. It’s not about downgrading the relationship or expelling Israeli diplomats. To expel a diplomat, you would summon an ambassador. That’s part of the process—you’d summon an ambassador, you’d say these are the people that we have a problem with, and out you go. Foreign ministries do that regularly; it’s part of the process. But the summoning in itself is not necessarily immediately tied to a declaration of a diplomat as persona non grata and kicking them out of the country.
Ellin Bessner: Okay, so what happens now? You were invited, and I was too, so full disclosure, to the Israeli Ambassador’s party, which they had later. They had it last night and you got to go. He was there. He’s not in prison, he’s not in jail. He didn’t say anything.
Artur Wilczynski: He didn’t say anything about the summons. I mean, I think he did acknowledge that the relationship with Canada right now is not in the best place.
He did make reference, quite frankly, but not only to Canada but in a more general way that when Hamas thanks you for a statement, perhaps you’re on the wrong side of history. And so, he did say that. It was a forward-leaning but not offensive pushback against the Canadian government and the French and the British ones as well.
But he was there, and I think that there was a big event, and it demonstrated that there is a broad base of the Ottawa political and bureaucratic crowd. There were folks from the Department of Foreign Affairs there, from Global Affairs Canada there, as well as other former colleagues that I have seen. No one’s putting the ambassador out the door. I think this is part of the diplomatic theatre meant for different audiences. The Israelis will understand why Canada is concerned, because diplomats were exposed to potential harm, and that is a reason for concern, and it’s completely legitimate to convey your concern and to ask for a formal explanation of what happened. The main purpose of this was to speak to Canadians who had seen this repeatedly covered on the news, about how Canada was taking this seriously and was going to step up and defend its public servants and its diplomats posted in Ramallah.
Ellin Bessner: Have we ever called an Israeli ambassador in for consultations, in your living memory? Is this the first time?
Artur Wilczynski: I don’t know of it. I don’t recall. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.
Ellin Bessner: You know, I think that’s why we have Chat GPT. We have to look it up! Listeners, if you know, you know. But I don’t remember.
Artur Wilczynski: Again, there’s a difference. An ambassador can be called in without it being made public. You can have the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs give a call to the ambassador and say, “Hey, we want to chat about issue X, Y, or Z. And to convey views, positive or negative, around a particular stance that a country takes, including Israel. What’s particularly important is that it was said publicly by the Prime Minister. Now, the number of times a Prime Minister says we’re calling in a foreign ambassador to have a talking to about something we’re not happy about is truly exceptional. So that is a high level of concern that the government of Canada is publicly conveying to the government of Israel about what it perceives to be behaviour that needs more robust explanation than what’s been in the public domain.
Ellin Bessner: Finally, what do we make of what happens next? It’s been nonstop busy diplomatic news in the last five days. Is there a timeline for sanctions that the government is saying? Do you get 90 days? Because he didn’t say anything, Carney, about what the sanctions were or when it would happen.
Artur Wilczynski: The question of the potential sanctions or the consequences was linked to what happens next in Gaza in terms of the Israeli plans to retake the Strip and what level of humanitarian assistance Israel allows into Gaza. A lot depends on how things evolve. Unlike the Brits, who already announced they are suspending their free trade discussions with the Israelis, we already have a free trade agreement with Israel, so I’ve heard nothing about its suspension or any kind of consequences in that space. A lot depends on how the Israelis proceed into Gaza, how that coverage makes its way into the Canadian political ecosystem, and then decisions will be made as a consequence of that. I think a lot of factors will go into that, both the reality of Canada’s evaluation of its obligations under international law and its view of whether or not Israel is living up to its international obligations. But also the domestic political context as well. We can’t ignore the fact that, for better or worse, foreign policy is often an extension of domestic policy in Canada, and the way that’s been evolving over time is just a reality.
Ellin Bessner: We’ll all wait to see the next steps. Then, June is the big high-level meeting at the United Nations in New York, where recognizing the Palestinian state will be on the table. If you read the statement that came out on May 19 from Canada, the UK, and France, right at the bottom, Canada added a separate sentence about recognizing the Palestinian state if that helps, which everybody kind of ignored. But it was in there, right at the last sentence. That’s new because they couldn’t get it through on March 18 last year. Everyone tried to get it through Parliament, and the Liberals went, Whoa. So they stopped it, they made an agreement. You know what I’m talking about, right?” But it’s in there. So they didn’t talk about that. That’s our last thing. What does this mean now? Is Canada now going to move because they’re friends with France and England, and France and England are going to recognize unilaterally? So it’s very interesting.
Artur Wilczynski: One has a hard time telling, but Trump has started speculating about the recognition of a Palestinian state, and I think Israelis need to pay attention to that. It’s been the Canadian government’s position for many years around the establishment of a two-state solution, so this is not new. The question becomes whether this recognition of the Palestinian Authority as the de facto government of the state of Palestine will now be recognized as an independent state, and whether that will help advance the talks or not. The Israelis are clear in saying that they believe it’s a reward for October 7 and that it should not happen. There are others who say you need some kind of disruptive action to actually push the Israeli government, which has not been particularly helpful. And again, full disclosure, I find the current Israeli government profoundly problematic. It has not achieved any of the strategic outcomes it set for itself for almost a year and nine months now.
Ellin Bessner: They did get home 148 hostages out of almost 200, and some are still missing.
Artur Wilczynski: They also stated that the main objective was to remove Hamas, and they haven’t done that. The cost has been spectacular, and there are still 50 Israelis, whether dead or alive, being held captive by Hamas. It’s been a year and nine months. I’m not saying nothing has happened, but when they’ve succeeded in getting folks out, much of that has not been based on military action.
Ellin Bessner: No, it’s based on negotiations with Qatar.
Artur Wilczynski: Correct. All I’m saying is that the Israeli government needs a kick in the pants to revisit both its strategy and tactics because it has been less than successful in preventing the horrific attack in Israeli history. It has been less effective in meeting its strategic objectives. So, I think the Israeli government needs to understand that sometimes its friends are criticizing it, even though we might share the same strategic objectives.
Ellin Bessner: This is like a big “intervention” when nothing else works. The Trump plan is like a “Hail Mary”. This is a Canadian intervention when they think it’s the only thing they can do.
Artur Wilczynski: Countries will do what they perceive to be in their national interests. Canada has to do what it thinks is right for Canada, and that’s complex.
Canada is hosting the G7 in June. So you were asking what is an important timeframe. The G7, based on what’s going on in the Middle East, might also be compelled to take more vocal action. You’re going to have countries like France, the UK, the US, Italy, and Germany with strong views. Whether they can reach consensus will be interesting, and Trump is always going to be the wildcard. A $400 million gift from Qatar seems to buy a lot of incentivizing for the President of the United States.
Ellin Bessner: Right, because it’s just been head-spinning in the last few days.
Artur Wilczynski: It is. What made it all the more difficult for many members of our community was what happened last night in Washington. Those murders sent a shockwave through the community around the world. It validates all our concerns about our safety and security. All of us are thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I.” Any one of us could have attended those events sponsored by the community.
Ellin Bessner: Like Walk for Israel, and in Calgary and Toronto…
Artur Wilczynski: Going to the Jewish Museum, going to shul, walking into a school—all these things have become acts of faith, if you pardon the analogy, by members of the community. We all collectively feel let down by all levels of government in this country that we have not received the level of protection we deserve and need.
That’s why we hope that the government of Canada will step up and address the rhetorical incitement that’s out there. Because people need to understand that incitement to violence is real and has real consequences. And that’s why it’s already criminalised. And we want them to enforce the law. And asking for folks to enforce the law shouldn’t be too much.
Ellin Bessner: We’ll see what happens now, after this. Thanks, Artur. Really, really great to speak to you and have you back.
Artur Wilczynski: Anytime.
Ellin Bessner: And that’s what Jewish Canada sounds like for this episode of The CJN Daily, made possible in part thanks to the generous support of the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.
If you’re in Toronto on Sunday or you’re coming to Toronto, March 25, for the walk for Israel, come on out and say hello at our booth at the after party. Meet your favourite CJN podcasters. Me too. And journalists. Grab some free giveaways and enter our contest for a chance to win cash prizes. It’s for new subscribers.
I’ll be there. I’ll look forward to meeting you. And you’ll also get to meet some of our staff, including Zachary Judah Kauffman, our show producer; producer Andrea Varsany; the executive producer Michael Fraiman; and our music is by Dov Beck Levine. Thanks for listening.
Show notes
Related links
- Hear Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed discuss the newly-strained relations between his country and Canada, on The CJN Daily from earlier this week.
- Read a timeline of Canada-Israel diplomatic relations, in The CJN archives (2017).
- Why former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper became one of Israel’s staunchest supporters, in The CJN.
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Dov Beck-Levine
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