Canada's threat of sanctions on Israel came when 'enough was enough': ex-ambassador
Canada, France and U.K. threaten action if Israel escalates military incursion in Gaza
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.
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.
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.
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.
Q&A edited for length and clarity. Audio produced by Kieran Oudshoorn and James Chaarani.
