The story has been updated on June 5, to include remarks from Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed.
In early 2024, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched a “structural investigation” into the Israel-Hamas war, Canada’s national police force confirmed Wednesday, after media reports about an investigation into war crimes underway since 2024 with little details was revealed.
A June 1 Toronto Star article claimed the RCMP launched an investigation, eliciting worry and outrage in the Israeli and Canadian Jewish community over possible interest in Israeli-Canadian citizens serving in the IDF. The Mounties confirmed the investigation’s existence without clarifying what precipitated it, whether there was a formal complaint from alleged victims, NGOs in Canada or abroad, or by order of the current or previous federal governments.
A structural investigation is not a criminal investigation, rather an intelligence-led process to collect, preserve, and assess information potentially relevant under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, and includes gathering open-source material and voluntary submissions from individuals.
The main goal, says the RCMP in a statement, is to proactively collect relevant information to support future investigative steps, using “a well-established structured protocol to efficiently triage and process incoming information related to global conflicts,” followed by specialized investigative techniques to address unique aspects of each investigation.
“Should a perpetrator of core international crimes—such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity—with the appropriate nexus to Canada be identified, the RCMP will initiate a separate criminal investigation. To date, the RCMP has not initiated any related criminal investigations.”
A public announcement was delayed due to technical issues developing tools like a secure online portal in French, English, Hebrew and Arabic, to secure submissions by the public and potential witnesses. “Once this online portal is ready for access, we will advise the public,” reads the statement. “Given the sensitivity of the matter, we urge the public to refrain from drawing premature conclusions about the RCMP’s role or intent. This initiative is solely focused on collecting relevant information and does not target any community or group. Further updates will be provided once the public reporting portal has been made available.”
Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed first read about the investigation in the media, “and was puzzled by what was published, and also very quickly flabbergasted by yet again, misinformation coming out that is very confusing, and I was concerned.”
While he wouldn’t share more details about the matter, Moed did tell The CJN that he reached out to government officials who responded very quickly. “Everyone was very open and transparent, and I shared my concerns that this publication added to more confusion that has recently spread, and that may culminate in some people trying to take action in the shape of what we saw happen in Washington D.C. and in Boulder, Colorado.
“The atmosphere right now, it’s causing a lot of concern for the Jewish community, and I called on the government to come up with a clear statement in that vein.”
As for the RCMP clarification published five days after the Toronto Star story, the ambassador said he appreciated their explanation but wished the message would have been more reassuring in terms of the Jewish community, “about exactly what is happening because right now there is a great concern about safety. This is the most important thing. And we are sharing these concerns of the Jewish community with the Canadian authorities at the highest possible level and with the highest level of urgency.”
The report comes two weeks after controversial remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in joint statements with France and the United Kingdom, threatening sanctions against Israel regarding food aid to Gaza and expanded settlements in the West Bank, and following Israel’s raising of its travel advisory for Israelis traveling to and within Canada to Level 2, for potential threat.
On Tuesday, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) called on the Canadian government to immediately provide clarification, posting on X that while Jews face a wave of violent antisemitic attacks, “it’s deeply concerning to read sensationalist reports about an RCMP investigation into the October 7 massacre and the brutal war Hamas has brought onto the people of Gaza and Israel. From Washington, DC to Boulder, Colorado, we have seen the violent and even deadly consequences of what happens when false narratives are left to fester and go unchallenged.”
After the RCMP made their clarification, CIJA’s interim president Noah Shack posted “Hamas’ atrocities are well documented, including the murder of multiple Canadian civilians in Israel. As a community that firmly supports the rule of law, we encourage anyone who has information on Hamas’ crimes against humanity—including murder, torture, sexual violence, and abduction—to submit this evidence to the RCMP’s portal once in place. This includes critical information regarding Hamas’ continued holding of the body of Canadian citizen Judi Weinstein Haggai.” (Weinstein Haggai’s body was recovered by the IDF on June 5, after Shack’s comments).
“Any suggestion that Israeli-Canadians should be targeted for their service—particularly in a war of self-defence waged by a close ally of Canada—not only represents a cynical distortion of the law,” says Shack, “but fuels the violent hatred faced by Israelis and Jews in North America, as witnessed in two terror attacks in the past two weeks alone. We encourage authorities to carefully consider the impact on public safety of future statements, given the heightened threat environment faced by our community.”
The CJN spoke with two IDF veterans, both speaking on condition of anonymity, citing the “doxing” of soldiers to expose and harass them.
A Canadian IDF veteran, who served as a ‘lone soldier’ for several months after the start of the current conflict, told The CJN, “I’ve spent more than three years in the army and consider myself a balanced, liberal-minded Canadian, and I have never once witnessed or heard a credible report about anything resembling a war crime. But what I did see in the last year, right here, is that these words no longer seem to have any real meaning, because the people throwing them around, like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ and the rest of the garbage thrown around here in Canada, has nothing to do with reality, and is just about opening another front against Israel.”
Another veteran, a dual citizen who served a decade ago, learned about the investigation and reaction to it on the news here at home and on Israeli news, telling The CJN, “people were already hysterical because of the Boulder terrorist attack so news spread really quickly. It’s not pleasant to hide or feel unsafe and be treated as a criminal, when you did your duty. But I think this investigation is likely a very neutral process, typical of every conflict like with Russia or other countries, to give people a platform to make complaints in a democratic western country.
“I don’t believe it’s an active hunt going on,” suggesting however, “when we react like this, with outrage, and dramatically demand statements right away,” the community might accidentally invite further unwelcome scrutiny. “Westerners must also remember the IDF is built of normal people. The reservists who operate businesses and have families, they’re not enjoying this war, but have been picked up out of their lives to protect the country. If you have to fight your neighbours for your own safety, you have no choice.”
On Wednesday, the Israel Law Center slammed the investigation, noting, “Although the RCMP claims the probe includes alleged offenses by both Israeli and Palestinian actors in the context of the Israel–Hamas conflict, the investigation appears to focus almost exclusively on IDF soldiers, raising serious concerns about its impartiality and intent.” In response, the Tel-Aviv-based Center launched a global legal awareness and support campaign to defend IDF reservists—particularly those traveling or living abroad—from politically motivated prosecutions and potential arrest under the guise of international law.
Center president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner called the RCMP investigation “part of a dangerous and escalating trend in which both our adversaries and the supposed allies of the Jewish state seek to halt our legitimate fight against the Hamas terrorists — even if it means enabling the continued captivity of our hostages and the survival of a genocidal regime in Gaza.”
By singling out Israeli soldiers, she wrote, the Canadian government is emboldening terror organizations and betraying its own professed democratic values. “Hamas’ useful idiots in Ottawa are serving to strengthen and encourage the Islamic terrorists who threaten their national security as much as ours.”
In a statement to The CJN, Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor described the investigation as “lawfare attacks,” and a central part of a “vicious” propaganda battle in the media, universities, and political frameworks. NGO Monitor president Gerald Steinberg cited the example of The Maple, which—as reported by The CJN—collected and disseminated names and personal information of Jewish Canadians who have served in the IDF, calling the site “an NGO online platform that publishes heinous anti-Israel and antisemitic posts. Some of their targets for demonization fought in the 1948 War of Independence against five invading Arab armies and are long deceased.”
Current estimates peg the number of active lone soldiers from abroad with no family attachment to Israel at around 3,000, the largest contingent from the United States, but with soldiers from dozens of countries.
NGO Monitor recently produced a report on how various anti-Israel groups in Canada employ lawfare against IDF soldiers abroad, and says these actions expose individuals, their families and descendants to violent hate attacks and intimidation. “The perpetrators and promoters of heinous lawfare targeting Canadian Jews under the facade of ‘war crimes in Gaza,’ must be widely and unconditionally condemned.”
