TORONTO — Two new Israeli envoys will arrive in Canada over the next year to supplement its corps of diplomats here.
Miriam Ziv and Amir Gissin
That’s one more than any other country will receive, including the United States.
Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv hailed this as a “positive” step for ties between the two countries, both diplomatic and cultural.
“It proves the importance the Israeli foreign ministry places on our relations with Canada. The bigger staff will enable us to do more,” Ziv told The CJN last week from her office at the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa.
The embassy will receive a new staff member by next summer, while the consulate in Toronto will get a new deputy consul by year’s end.
“Canada is a big country, and our work entails not only working in our own cities, but travelling and meeting with government officials and Jewish communities all over Canada,” Ziv said. “So the additional staff will allow both the [Toronto] consulate and our embassy to do more and expand on what we have been doing so far in Canada.”
Though pleased by the news, Ziv was not surprised that Canada received the nod for two new diplomats, explaining that Israel’s foreign ministry must have recognized the “very active” nature of the Toronto consulate, because of the city’s large Israeli population. Beyond that, the Toronto consulate is also tasked with seeing to the needs of its clients in the western provinces.
The added staff in Canada is something its Jewish and Israeli communities should recognize as a rare privilege as well as being a response to the emerging position of Toronto as a global focal point for both pro and anti-Israel activity, said Amir Gissin, Israeli consul general for Toronto and Western Canada.
“There is a feeling [from both pro- and anti-Israel advocates] that Toronto has become more important and attracted more attention in recent years. And Israel’s struggle here is putting much more attention on us. Everybody’s watching Toronto more than before – the world and all those engaged with Israel’s image,” he said. “This puts more responsibility on those who love Israel and want to support her.”
He cited recent examples of anti-Israel advocacy in Toronto over the last year, including increased activity during Israeli Apartheid Week on campuses in the city, protests at the opening of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum and attempts to get Mountain Equipment Co-op stores to boycott Israeli goods.
Echoing Ziv’s remarks, Gissin said the decision by the Israeli foreign ministry to give the nod to two new diplomatic appointments in Canada could only be seen as a positive development.
He also remarked on the fact that Canada is the only country in the world getting two new Israeli consuls.
“This is very significant. Even the U.S. – with all its [Israeli] consulates, embassy and mission to the UN – they got only one additional diplomat,” he said.
“This reflects the growing importance of Canada to Israel and the excellent partnership between the Canadian Jewish community and the State of Israel. This keeps developing and requires more layers and personnel.”
He added that “this also reflects the importance of the Toronto Jewish community and as an arena for Israel from a PR, cultural and commercial point of view. In my opinion, the [Israeli] foreign ministry took the right decision.”
Ziv noted that Israel’s Canadian contingent of diplomats is not the only one benefiting from additional resources and personnel from Israel.
“We have embassies and missions all over the world. We are opening several in the coming year. We’re re-opening [offices] in Wellington, [New Zealand], Sao Paolo, [Brazil], and opening in Tajikistan. So in addition to [Israel’s] deciding to open more missions around the world, the decision, luckily, was also made to strengthen some of the missions that need more.”
The identities of the new envoys to Canada are unknown. A tender for applicants was made late last week by the Israeli foreign ministry. A nominating committee will review candidates and make its decision in the next few months, Gissin said.
“Generally speaking, increasing the consulate’s staff will enable us to do much more in presenting the positive face of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada through media presence, cultural activities and the use of the Internet and social networks.”
Gissin said he has no say in the selection of the candidate for his consulate, but he hopes to use his new deputy to help combat anti-Israel sentiment in Toronto and Western Canada.
Israel’s enemies “are putting in a lot of effort to attack Israel in Toronto and Canada,” he said.
