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Israel's provocative settlement response may force Canada to back up its words
Israel's provocative settlement response may force Canada to back up its words

CBC

time4 days ago

  • Business
  • CBC

Israel's provocative settlement response may force Canada to back up its words

The Israeli government's response to last week's unprecedented joint statement by Canada, France and the U.K. could hardly be clearer, says former Canadian ambassador to Israel Jon Allen, now a senior fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk School. "It's basically telling the world that we don't really care about what you think at this point in time," he told CBC News. "They really are thumbing their noses at the international community." Settlement expansion has accelerated ever since the arrival of the current government, Netanyahu's sixth, at the end of 2022. But Allen says the announcement of 22 new settlements — both through new construction and the formalization of existing settler outposts built outside the law — is a major escalation in a number of ways. "First of all, it's big in terms of the numbers. Secondly, it is legalizing what were deemed illegal settlements even in Israel by its Supreme Court," he said. "But more importantly, you're getting statements out of ministers which are basically saying the purpose of this is to prevent a two-state solution, while at the same time you've got activity in Gaza, which looks like Israel may be trying to occupy large parts of the Gaza Strip as well." The dramatic action, he said, is driven by a sense within the Israeli right that this is a now-or-never moment. "These ministers realize that their polling numbers are very bad and this is their last chance to try and significantly change things on the ground in Israel," he said. "And so they're really trying a last-ditch effort to kill the two-state solution." From jail cell to cabinet table While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given his full endorsement to the settlement plan, many Israelis believe that the strongest impetus for it comes from the country's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds key posts giving him control over the West Bank. Smotrich's role illustrates just how much mainstream politics in Israel has changed in the past two decades. In 2005, Smotrich was one of four radical settlers arrested by Israel's Shin Bet security service on suspicion of plotting violent attacks to prevent the evacuation of Israeli settlements in Gaza and the northern West Bank. He appeared in security court in handcuffs and a prison jumpsuit. Today, he is the number-two figure in the government and in a position to order the official re-establishment of settlements whose evacuation he once so radically opposed. Smotrich on May 19 boasted that "we are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble with total destruction [that has] no precedent globally. And the world isn't stopping us." He said his own preference would be to cut off water as well as food, but that might lead other countries to intervene. He openly stated that the goal was to leave no Palestinians in Gaza. On May 25, he returned to the same theme. "We are being blessed with the opportunity, thank God, of seeing an expansion of the borders of the land of Israel, on all fronts," he said. "We are being blessed with the opportunity to blot out the seed of Amalek, a process which is intensifying." 'Loss of credibility' if Canada fails to act "We oppose any attempt to expand settlements in the West Bank," wrote Prime Minister Mark Carney, Britain's Keir Starmer and France's Emmanuel Macron in their joint statement last week. "Israel must halt settlements, which are illegal, and undermine the viability of a Palestinian state and the security of both Israelis and Palestinians. We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions." Thomas Juneau, a former Canadian defence official who now teaches about the Middle East at the University of Ottawa's graduate school of public and international affairs, told CBC News that Israel's announcement leaves Canada with little choice but to back up its words. WATCH | WHO warns of famine in Gaza: Gaza's population faces starvation and famine, WHO warns 17 days ago Duration 2:01 The risk of famine and mass starvation is rising in Gaza, the World Health Organization warns. Palestinian health officials say dozens of children have died of malnutrition since March, the month Israel blocked all aid shipments. "It does put pressure on the Canadian government, but also on the French, British, German and other European governments in the sense that there was a clear position that was taken last week of threatening actions against Israel," Juneau said. "So if Canada and European players now do not do anything about 22 new settlements in the West Bank, there is a loss of credibility that would follow." Former ambassador Allen said Canada can't lay down a marker like the joint statement it signed onto last week, and then let such a provocative response pass without taking action. "I frankly don't think they will ignore this. I think those three governments were serious about what they were saying, and I expect sanctions to follow," he told CBC News. Sanctions should target ministers: Former ambassador Canada has already sanctioned a handful of extremist settlers, albeit reluctantly and only following actions taken by European allies. But those sanctions have had little practical effect. The sanctioned individuals have suffered few real inconveniences, treating the sanctions in some cases as a badge of honour. Although condemned many times by Western governments, the most extreme ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet have thus far avoided sanctions. Britain's David Cameron told the BBC he had been preparing sanctions for Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir prior to his government's election defeat. Ben Gvir is a rabble-rousing extremist who was also once a target for Shin Bet surveillance, but is now Israel's minister of national security. Allen says there would be little point in simply repeating ineffectual sanctions on individual settlers, when the settlement policy is clearly being driven from the top. "I thought that [the joint statement] was the strongest, most comprehensive announcement that I've ever seen out of the Canadian government. But if they were not to follow up, having issued a specific threat vis-a-vis settlements, then I think it would be a paper statement." Allen identified Smotrich, Ben Gvir and Defence Minister Israel Katz as the three cabinet members driving the most radical policies. "If I were advising them, I would advise them to sanction the ministers in question, all three of them," he told CBC News. "But we have to recognize that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the prime minister and he is allowing all of this to happen," he said. Netanyahu counting on Trump Juneau says that Netanyahu, at times like these, tends to rely on Israel's relationship with Washington. The Trump administration is the only government in the world that does not always regard Israel's West Bank settlements as inherently illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids a victorious party in war from transferring its own population into conquered territory, or forcing the civilian population that lives there to leave. "As much as there is a growing trend of European powers and Canada being irritated with Israel, that only matters at most in a secondary way in the calculus of the current Israeli government," Juneau said. U.S. President Donald Trump, who suggested expelling Gaza's population to turn the territory into a kind of international tourist riviera, is unlikely to react strongly to the settlement announcement, said Juneau. "But there are a lot of indications that the Trump administration is growing somewhat irritated with Israel." Signs include the fact that both Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have visited the Middle East without stopping in Israel, that Trump has clearly ignored Israeli wishes and objections in negotiations with both Iran and the Houthis of Yemen and persistent rumours that Trump is secretly negotiating some kind of grand bargain with Saudi Arabia without Israeli input. "All of that put together is causing anxiety in Israel," said Juneau. Canada will likely co-ordinate with allies Canada will likely want to co-ordinate its response with the British and French governments that co-signed last week's joint statement, say the two experts. "Where Canada can have a limited but real impact is when it acts with its allies, especially in Europe, but others, too: Australia, Japan, South Korea and a few others," said Juneau. "If there is a co-ordinated campaign, not only of sticks towards Israel, but also support to the Palestinian Authority and to the peace camp in Israel, then there can be an impact." This week, European countries that didn't sign the joint statement separately warned Israel that their patience was at an end. Italy's foreign minister said Israel's war in Gaza had taken on "absolutely dramatic and unacceptable forms" and "must stop immediately." Germany's conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz, long an unconditional supporter of Israel, said that "what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, I no longer understand the goal, to harm the civilian population in such a way." For the first time, Germany threatened "consequences" if Israel did not change direction, and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany's days of "obligatory solidarity" with Israel were over. Juneau says that Canada has no choice but to demand respect for the two-state formula, and for international law. "If peace remains the objective, if security remains the objective, then there is no other alternative than coexistence between the Palestinian side and the Israeli side," he said.

Canada's threat of sanctions on Israel came when 'enough was enough': ex-ambassador
Canada's threat of sanctions on Israel came when 'enough was enough': ex-ambassador

CBC

time21-05-2025

  • Politics
  • CBC

Canada's threat of sanctions on Israel came when 'enough was enough': ex-ambassador

A former Canadian ambassador to Israel says that the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza may have been what finally pushed the leaders of Canada, France and the U.K. to threaten action. "I think they just realized that enough was enough and that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu seemed to have no bounds and no restrictions on his action," said Jon Allen, who was Canada's ambassador to Israel from 2006 to 2010. Israel had blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since early March, after a short-lived ceasefire broke down. Under increasing international pressure, the Israeli government began allowing some aid into the enclave earlier this week, but aid groups said Wednesday that much of it is not reaching people who desperately need it. The United Nations has warned of looming famine, including 14,000 babies at risk of acute malnutrition in the coming year, if food sitting at the border is not allowed to reach them. Canada, France and the U.K. issued a joint statement Monday threatening punitive action, including targeted sanctions, if Israel did not lift aid restrictions and scrap plans to escalate military action in Gaza. On Tuesday the U.K. paused free trade talks with Israel, while the EU said it will review the pact that governs its political and economic ties with the country. WATCH | Aid allowed into Gaza hasn't been distributed, says UN: About 100 trucks of food have entered Gaza, but it hasn't been distributed, says UN 2 hours ago Duration 5:25 No aid has reached people in Gaza, a UN aid official says, two days after the Israeli government lifted an 11-week-old blockade. The Israeli military said five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday and 93 on Tuesday, but supplies haven't been distributed, say local officials. Allen, who is now a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, spoke to The Current's Matt Galloway about what this political rebuke might mean for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Here is part of their conversation. This statement released by Canada, France, and the U.K. is strongly worded. It says that those countries have always supported Israel's right to defend Israelis against terrorism, but describes the current escalation as wholly disproportionate. [It] says that the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable, and says that the actions of the Netanyahu government are egregious. What do you make of the language used in this statement? Well, it's an extremely important statement. It's comprehensive. It is definitely strong. It's the strongest statement that I have ever seen these three governments make. But it's required at this time, given, as you just described, 11 weeks of a humanitarian siege, … attempted displacement of 1.1 million Palestinians from the north to the south into only 20 per cent of the Gaza Strip, and probably most importantly, overall, the disproportionate use of force. Israel has a right to defend itself. The massacre of October 7, [2023] was horrific … and of course the hostages must be released, and the statement calls for that. But the response to that, what these three countries are saying — and others are saying now — has been disproportionate and is breaching international humanitarian law. Why do you think the prime minister, Mark Carney, signed on to this statement now? I can't say exactly. He was in the Vatican. He spoke with the Pope, who's been clear on this, as was his predecessor. He had an opportunity to meet with a very significant number of European leaders, who I'm sure are all concerned about this. We are approaching levels of starvation, as described by multiple UN organizations on the ground. And I think they just realized that enough was enough and that Prime Minister Netanyahu seemed to have no bounds and no restrictions on his action. And so they decided finally — and I think necessarily — to move on this. The statement comes at a time of increasing pressure and criticism toward Netanyahu from inside Israel and beyond. The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has warned of possible war crimes. A former general with the Israeli Defence Force, Yair Golan, talked about Israel's actions being in his words, "unconscionable" and said that Israel risks becoming a pariah state. Absolutely. When you say absolutely, what do you make of the international context that this statement — and the internal context — that the statement arrives in? We now have a situation in Israel where between 68 and 70 per cent of Israelis want the prime minister to resign and hold elections, which is one of the prime reasons that he broke the ceasefire and restarted the war. He does not want to face elections. Yair Golan, not only a former senior military officer, but head of the third-largest [political] party in Israel right now. [He's] one of the few people who got down to the kibbutzim to help save people before the IDF did. WATCH | Israel cut out of U.S. deal for Hamas to free Edan Alexander: Hamas frees American Israeli hostage ahead of Trump's Middle East trip 9 days ago Duration 2:12 Do you believe he's right that Israel risks becoming a pariah state? I think in the minds of many of its former supporters and many progressive Jews and many people who have always seen Israel — at least for many years — as the David, not the Goliath. I think many people do see Israel as... this government, as a pariah state. Netanyahu says this statement is a win, in his words, for Hamas. And those words have been echoed by the Canadian Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, as well. What do you make of that? I think it's completely false. Hamas and the extremists in Israel are not interested in two states. This statement made clear that two states is the only way forward for these two peoples who are trying to share this land. Hamas wants one state. [Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir, the prime minister's two right-wing messianic leaders, want one state. They want to resettle Gaza, they want to annex the West Bank. So those are the extremists. This statement is not meant to support Hamas. It's obvious that Hamas would love a ceasefire. They're a terrorist group, they want to survive. But this statement is meant to try and give succour to the suffering of the Palestinian people right now — innocent women, children, the elderly. WATCH | Conduct of war is 'damaging' relationship: U.K. foreign minister: U.K. suspends free trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive 1 day ago Duration 8:39 The U.K. has suspended talks over expanding its free trade agreement with Israel. The European Union is reviewing its trade agreement with Israel. We haven't heard what steps Canada is going to take, but this statement comes with the threat of targeted sanctions toward Israel. Is any of that likely to have a material impact on what we're seeing in Gaza right now and the actions of the current Israeli government? I absolutely think so. A trade agreement with the EU, which is Israel's largest trading partner … right now they're talking about suspending negotiations for an enhanced agreement, but they could suspend the agreement. We could suspend our bilateral agreement. There's always weapons exports that can be suspended. There [could be] sanctions on ministers who say outrageous things. There are sanctions on the settlers and the settlements that can be imposed. You can withdraw your ambassador. There are a lot of tools that can be used, but I think Israel is already beginning to feel the pressure. And I think the Israelis themselves want support from the international community and from the diaspora to end what they are experiencing within Israel and what we are seeing going on in Gaza.

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