A record 56,000 participants turned out for Toronto’s UJA Walk with Israel on May 25. The numbers exceeded the roughly 50,000 people who marched last year, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto said.
The annual event raised about $1.4 million, earmarked for projects in Israel, an increase from the $1.2 million raised last year.
Security was on the minds of walkers, as they strolled past schools and synagogues on the 4 km route that started at Temple Sinai and ended at the Prosserman JCC, with a festival with music, food and celebration.
Madison Rochwerg recalled going on the Israel walk as a child. This was her own family’s second year of coming to the walk, she said, pushing two little children in a stroller.
Last year, she pulled the stroller’s canopies over her kids, as they walked past the protesters, “because they were yelling not very nice things and I didn’t want the kids to hear the anger,” she said.
Despite that, she felt it was important to participate. “We want them to share in the pride of our community and understand the importance of Israel to the Jewish people,” she said.
She admitted she was a little concerned about security after the walk ended, when people were more dispersed along the route. “But I do feel confident in the police presence and the private security that they’ll protect us and we’ll feel safe,” she said.
Above: Hear The CJN Daily’s Ellin Bessner reporting from the 2025 Walk With Israel.
Earlier in the week, Toronto Deputy Police Chief Lauren Pogue had said in a statement that officers from surrounding police forces, including York, Durham, Peel and the OPP, would be bolstering the ranks of Toronto Police, providing security.
“We are aware of plans by some individuals to interfere with the event,” Pogue said. “You’ll see officers on foot and on bicycles patrolling surrounding neighbourhoods. This is to ensure community safety beyond the main event site and respond quickly to any concerns that may arise.”
Fewer protesters were seen along the route than last year, when six arrests were made. Anti-Israel protesters were concentrated mainly on both sides of the intersection of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue, which was designated by Toronto Police as a protest area.
Small groups of anti-Israel protesters also walked alongside the march, and were escorted through the crowd and across Bathurst Street at one point.
“While designated protest areas are established to help minimize conflict, they do not give police the authority to compel individuals to remain within them,” said a police spokesperson, when asked about the situation after the march. “Today, protesters were moved off Bathurst Street and onto the sidewalk to prevent disruptions to the permitted Walk and ensure the safe flow of pedestrians.”
A 57-year-old man was arrested for allegedly yelling antisemitic slurs at walkers, and was charged with mischief and causing a disturbance, Toronto Police said.
Toronto has witnessed months of unprecedented anti-Israel protests as well as attacks on schools, synagogues and Jewish businesses since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the start of the war in Gaza.
For David Trifler, the events of the last year-and-a-half were enough to compel him and his family to join the walk for the first time.
“This year, it is very big for all of us. You know, I’ve always been a very proud person and a very proud Jewish person, but I think now is the time that everyone stands up and comes together and this is just a show of support for Israel, for Toronto and for Jews around the world,” he said.
While his kids were worried about encountering protests, he was not especially concerned. “I feel safe,” he said. “I feel confident and I feel like I’m in the right place.”
Debra, who declined to give her last name, on the other hand said she’s been coming to walk for at least 30 years, as a way to support Israel.
She said she came this year “to show we’re not scared to live in our own country.”
When asked why she was concerned, she replied, “OK, I am scared but I’m fighting that fear. I’ve been discriminated against at work….” At that point her words were drowned out as a small group of anti-Israel protesters passed by blaring music.
As she resumed, once the noise had subsided, she said, “I’m disappointed that that that was allowed, and it ruins our experience, but I’m not surprised.”
Shlomit Iliyaich stood on the march route with her two teenage daughters and husband waving Israeli and Canadian flags. They’ve come every year, since her older daughter was born, she said.
An Israeli, she said she is torn when she sees the current situation in Israel and her adopted Canada.
“They have their own struggles with the war and everything and we have our struggles with antisemitism. I don’t know where it’s better to be, to be honest and it’s very, very sad because we used to feel safe here and we don’t anymore,” she said.
Still, she and her husband felt it was important to show up. “I have to teach my kids to be Jewish and proud… My kids go to public school, so even with that we are very proud Israelis, Canadians, Jews and we have to teach that to our kids.”
The Walk also attracted non-Jewish supporters, including members of Allies for a Strong Canada, a group formed post-Oct. 7, as well as people belonging to the Iranian, Indigenous and other communities.
Alan Bostakian, and his dog Chanel, were among those who joined the walk.
“I’m here to support the Israeli community because we Persians and Israel, we have the same enemy and we need to support each other because we are true allies to each other and that’s one reason,” he told Ellin Bessner, host of The CJN Daily podcast.
“The other reason is that it’s just these days it’s just we need to support humanity and human rights.”
