In a remarkable decision, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie announced that her country would suspend arms exports to Israel, describing the decision as important and that it was “not a symbolic change.”
Despite the non-binding nature of the resolution, it represents a historic step, according to what many observers described, and comes in line with the shift witnessed in Ottawa’s speech towards the war on Gaza.
Following the October 7 operation, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement in support of Israel and its right to defend itself, before later announcing his condemnation of the pro-Palestinian marches.
The contrast between Ottawa and Tel Aviv became clear with Canada voting in favor of a UN resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza in December, while Jolie later stated that her country had not agreed to issue a permit to export military lethal products to Israel since October 7, as It has stopped issuing any permits at all since January 8.
The stage before submitting the proposal to a vote witnessed strenuous efforts by representatives of the ruling Liberal and New Democratic parties to amend a proposal from the latter that included many points, the most important of which was urging the government to call for an immediate ceasefire, suspension of trade in all goods and military technology with Israel, and official recognition of the state of Israel. Palestine.
These efforts resulted in fundamental amendments to many items, as a more flexible formula was agreed upon, including “stopping further permits and transferring arms exports to Israel, and working with international partners to actively pursue the goal of reaching a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, including: This is the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”
The move of the ruling party’s representatives is due to many reasons, the most important of which is that voting on the proposal in its initial form, yes or no, would have led to damage to the party’s popularity among one of the two blocs, whether supporting Israel or opposing the war on Gaza.
This is important given that next year's general election will be held amid an unprecedented decline in the Prime Minister's popularity, according to a Mainstreet Research poll, which showed Trudeau trailing his biggest rival, the Conservative Party, by more than 15 points. While 63% of respondents expressed a somewhat negative or unfavorable view of Trudeau.
The arrival of the Liberals and New Democrats to a settlement formula also strengthens the agreement between the two parties, as the two parties signed an agreement in 2022 that allowed the Trudeau government to continue without the threat of a no-confidence vote against it in Parliament by the opponents, as the two parties have 181 deputies out of 338.
Canada, the main ally of the United States, provides Israel with military aid annually, but it has already reduced its arms shipments to Israel to non-lethal equipment, such as communications equipment, after the war that Israel declared on Gaza following the October 7 attack.
A Canadian official told news agencies, requesting anonymity, that the conditions on the ground make it difficult for Canada to export any type of military equipment to Israel.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie confirmed to the Toronto Star that Ottawa will halt future arms exports.
The issue of arms delivery to Israel raises public anger in a number of countries around the world and has led to legal measures being taken in many of them.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed great concern about the possible Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, which houses hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Canada is not the first to decide to suspend arms sales to Israel. The Netherlands, Japan, Spain and Belgium preceded it, and many other countries said that they would no longer buy Israeli weapons.
Last week, a group of Danish NGOs said they would sue Denmark to stop arms exports to Israel, citing fears that its weapons would be used to commit serious crimes against civilians during the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a Dutch court in February ordered the Netherlands to ban all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they would be used to violate international law in Gaza.
Israel denounced the decision to suspend arms sales, and its Foreign Minister Israel Katz commented by saying that the decision “undermines Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists.”
“History will judge Canada’s current behavior harshly,” he wrote on the X platform.
But US Senator Bernie Sanders welcomed the Canadian move and wrote on X: “Given the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, including the spread and worsening of hunger, the United States should stop sending a dime to Netanyahu’s war machine.”
Israel is one of the most prominent importers of Canadian weapons, as it received military equipment worth 21 million Canadian dollars in 2022, according to Radio-Canada, and this was preceded by shipments worth 26 million dollars in 2021.
This puts Israel in the top 10 recipients of Canadian arms exports. But a Canadian government official explained that his country has not sent any exports to Israel since the beginning of this year.
This month, a group of Canadian lawyers and activists of Palestinian origin filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government demanding the suspension of arms exports to Israel, considering that Ottawa, with these exports, violates domestic and international law.
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