A Palestinian man carries a toddler in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.AFP Contributor#AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Israel’s ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed says the government-to-government relationship between the two countries is the worst it’s ever been, summing up what he describes as a “long impasse” in ties strained during his country’s war with Hamas.
The flashpoint has been Gaza, which is in the grip of a severe humanitarian crisis after more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Israel was attacked by Hamas militants in an October, 2023, assault that left around 1,200 people dead and about 250 taken hostage.
It responded with a bombing campaign and siege that has flattened much of Gaza’s infrastructure, displaced many and killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A United Nations independent commission of inquiry last year concluded that Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. Israel has rejected the findings.
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In the past year, the Canadian government has steered a different course than its predecessors, with Prime Minister Mark Carney recognizing a Palestinian state in tandem with other Western countries and over the objections of Israel. Mr. Carney said he did this to preserve the chance of a “two-state solution” for peace in the Mideast and said one of the threats to this was Israel’s contribution to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, including impeding access to food and other essential humanitarian supplies.
Mr. Moed cited the recognition of Palestine, some restrictions on arms sales to Israel from Canada and Canadian sanctions applied to elected officials in Israel as examples of the worsening relationship.
“I wouldn’t know a period – another period in history – where the relations were where they are right now,” Mr. Moed said.
Canada and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1949.
Israel’s ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed cited the recognition of Palestine, some restrictions on arms sales to Israel from Canada and Canadian sanctions applied to elected officials in Israel as examples of the worsening relationship between the two countries.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
However, the envoy distanced himself from the conduct of right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who harassed detained activists that were part of a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for Gaza after Israeli forces intercepted their ships on Tuesday.
Both Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Mr. Carney have sharply criticized Mr. Ben-Gvir over the incident.
Mr. Ben-Gvir is one of the Israeli politicians who were sanctioned by Canada and a number of other Western countries in June, 2025, for “inciting violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank.
Mr. Moed said he would not defend Israeli minister’s conduct. “Itamar Ben-Gvir’s behaviour, with this video clip that he posted, does not represent Israel’s values, Jewish values or this government’s values,” he said. He said many leaders in Israel have condemned this as well. “This is not what Israel is.”
Mr. Moed spoke to The Globe and Mail the day after Ms. Anand announced she was summoning him in relation Mr. Ben-Gvir’s treatment of the flotilla activists.
In March, Mr. Carney warned Israel against launching a ground offensive in Lebanon – and then condemned the very invasion he had urged Israel to avoid. The same month, Ottawa joined European partners in opposing an Israeli law mandating death by hanging for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks, and in criticizing Israeli police for blocking the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
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Asked how Mr. Carney’s approach has changed from his predecessor Justin Trudeau, the Israeli envoy said the messaging from Ottawa seems different. “Canada used to repeat Israel’s right to defend itself,” he said. “We hear that much less right now, and I’m told that there is no change, but we hear it less, so at least on the surface, in the public domain, it’s different.”
Mr. Moed repeated a standing criticism of his: that Canada is still failing to do enough to protect Jewish Canadians from rising antisemitism.
“I’m hearing from the Jewish community a sense of abandonment. They feel that the government has abandoned them,” he said.
The envoy said Jewish people in Canada should not be blamed for events in Israel.
“A Jew in Canada is a Canadian, and he’s not responsible, and he’s not accountable for what’s happening in Israel,” Mr. Moed said.