MONTREAL — A Quebec judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the State of Israel and the owners of Westmount Square by tenants of an office near the Israeli consulate in that building.
Lawyer Robert Teitelbaum says he is going to appeal Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer’s dismissal of his and notary Solomon Katz’s case that they, as well as their staff and clients, are entitled to personal security under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the terms of their lease.
Their sixth-floor office is directly across the hall from the Israeli consulate, which moved into Westmount Square last summer after being located in the downtown CIBC building since 1986.
Teitelbaum and Katz say they would be at risk if the consulate were ever attacked, and they want upgraded security measures, such as dedicating one of the building’s six elevators to the sixth floor, as well as security cameras in that elevator, and a security guard with a metal detector on the ground floor to screen people entering the elevator.
The case received prominent coverage in a recent edition of the Lawyers Weekly, a newspaper for the Canadian legal profession.
Teitelbaum noted that the walls around the entrance area of the consulate were heavily reinforced. They say their office would be in the line of fire if the consulate’s security personnel retaliated against any attack.
He said his letters to the landlord for enhanced security went unanswered.
Teitelbaum and Katz told the court that, by locating in an officer tower rather than a freestanding building, the consulate is effectively using them as “human shields” to add another line of defence in a possible attack.
Cournoyer rejected their constitutional challenge, citing the federal State Immunity Act, which exempts foreign states from the jurisdiction of Canadian courts, except when death, bodily injury or damage to, or loss of, property are involved.
“Respecting a principle of international law may not be considered to be a violation of the principle of fundamental justice under [section] 7” of the Charter, he wrote.
Teitelbaum said he doesn’t want to wait until any harm is done to sue for protection.
The consulate’s lawyer, Barry Landy, said that it “would set a serious precedent if not only Israel, but any consulate, was obliged to start installing security measures for its neighbours.”
Compiled by CJN Staff
