Canada / Cuts “knife” arms sales to Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is increasingly exposed to international pressure to back off and not press ahead with the ground assault on Rafah as unease over the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza builds in many Western capitals, not just Washington. One of them is Ottawa, and Canada yesterday became the first Western country to decide to stop supporting the Jewish state with military equipment. Therefore, sales of Canadian weapons systems and other military equipment to Israel are halted until further notice.

The decision was made and announced by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government following a vote in Parliament, the result of which was not binding. It was proposed by the left-wing New Democracy party (NDP). Secretary of State Melanie Jolie confirmed that the administration will halt arms shipments to Israel, calling it a “real decision.”

Ottawa exported more than 21 million Canadian dollars worth of military equipment to Israel in 2022, while in 2021 its value was 26 million Canadian dollars.

Ottawa is justified

According to the government, arms sales licenses approved after the outbreak of the Gaza war were exclusively for exports of non-lethal military equipment such as “communications equipment”. However, until recently the government maintained that while it had stopped issuing export licenses to Israel, it was still evaluating applications on a “case-by-case basis”.

“After October 7th we have only approved licenses for non-lethal equipment. And given the rapid development of the situation on the ground, we have not approved any permits since January 8,” said the foreign minister, who visited the Middle East last week.

The NDP, which backs Trudeau’s minority government, has repeatedly expressed its displeasure with Ottawa’s stance and what it calls its “failure” to take initiatives to protect civilians in Gaza. The resolution in Parliament passed by a large majority, 204 in favor-117 against, with the support of MPs from the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois and the Green party, also calls on the Canadian government to work “toward the establishment of the state of Palestine ».

Threats and appeals

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Canada’s decision “unfortunate,” arguing that it “undermines Israel’s right to defend itself.” “History will judge this decision of the Canadian government harshly” he commented in a statement.

In the US, veteran Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders welcomed Canada’s decision in a post on Platform X.

It is noted that several countries have filed legal appeals against the sale of military equipment to Israel.

In Canada, a group of lawyers and citizens of Palestinian origin filed a lawsuit against the government in early March demanding the suspension of arms exports to Israel.

Washington is also pushing

In the meantime, the pressure on Netanyahu, who insists on the logic of the final showdown with Hamas, is also intensifying from the side of Washington. The Biden administration, apparently under pressure from a segment of the public that traditionally votes Democratic, hastily summoned Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad to Washington to explain to American officials the plans for the general attack on Rafah that Israel is preparing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced yesterday the dispatch of a high-ranking Israeli delegation to Washington led by Gallad “following the request of US President Joe Biden”. The latter had a telephone conversation on Monday with the Israeli prime minister in which he told him he was “very concerned” about the plans of the Israeli government, considering that a large-scale ground attack on Rafah “would be a mistake”. The American President asked Netanyahu to send an Israeli government delegation to the United States to discuss the plan for this attack.