Jesse Kline: Shame on Liberals for sanctioning democratically elected Israeli politicians
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Instead, Ottawa and its allies have essentially given these dictatorial regimes a free pass, while singling out members of a democratically elected government. This point is important.
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Ben Gvir and Smotrich hold extremist views that do a disservice to peace and have harmed Israel's standing in the eyes of the world. They have done nothing but play into Hamas's narrative that Israel is acting immorally, which has turned the Jewish state into a pariah on the world stage. But just as Canadians were outraged over attempts by foreign powers to meddle in our democratic affairs, we should be equally infuriated by our government's attempts to do the same.
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After all, if there's one thing the ruling class in Ottawa, London, Canberra, Wellington and Oslo should be able to agree on, it's that the proper way to sanction an elected official you disagree with is through the ballot box. And they may not have to wait long for Israelis to have the opportunity to do just that.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is on the brink of collapse, as ultra-Orthodox members of the governing coalition seek to advance a bill that would dissolve the Knesset and trigger an election. According to a Channel 12 poll released last week, if that were to happen, Smotrich's Religious Zionism party would be completely wiped out and a bloc lead by former prime minister Naftali Bennett would win a clear majority.
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Until that happens, it's almost unfathomable that Netanyahu, who's nothing if not a political survivor, would seek to sideline Ben Gvir and Smotrich, as doing so would further jeopardize his tenuous hold on power. Which means that if Canada's Liberal government and its overseas friends want to influence Israeli policy, they will have to deal with the current cast of characters in Jerusalem. This will now be harder to do since we barred Ben Gvir and Smotrich from setting foot on Canadian soil and basically threatened to arrest Netanyahu if he ever shows his face here again.
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Thus, while the joint statement talks about wanting to 'work with the Israeli government' to secure an 'immediate ceasefire, the release now of the remaining hostages and for the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid,' and reiterates Canada's longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, its real-world effect will be to further strain relations between Israel and impede Ottawa's ability to make any real progress on Middle East peace.
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This isn't diplomacy intended to achieve meaningful results, it's performative political theatre intended to appease left-wing westerners who have become increasingly hostile towards the Jewish state and seem to have a newfound love for colonialism — when it's used to support their anti-Israel agenda, that is.
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