EDITORIAL: The lasting damage of PM’s criticism of Israel

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If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said on Tuesday what he said on Thursday about the Israeli-Hamas war, there wouldn’t have been any controversy about his ill-advised comments on Tuesday.

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On Tuesday, Trudeau held Israel alone responsible for the conduct of the Gaza conflict, warning it to exercise “maximum restraint” and that “even wars have rules” and that “the world is witnessing this killing of women and children, of babies.”

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By comparison, his verbal slap on the wrist for Hamas, which Canada designates as a terrorist organization and which started the war with a terrorist attack on Israel — angered Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who responded to Trudeau on ‘X’: “It is not Israel that is deliberately targeting civilians but Hamas …

“It is Hamas, not Israel, that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime — targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians.”

Former Liberal MP Michael Levitt, president of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, told CBC Trudeau’s words could fan the flames of “Jew-hatred” in Canada.

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In an attempt at damage control, Trudeau posted on ‘X’ Thursday that he had spoken with Benny Kantz, a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet the day before, and:

“I unequivocally condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks, including the atrocious use of Palestinian civilians as human shields – and noted that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people nor the legitimate aspirations they have.”

An accompanying statement from the PMO said Trudeau “reaffirmed Canada’s longstanding support for Israel and its right to defend itself in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law, while strongly emphasizing the importance of taking all possible measures to protect civilians and to minimize casualties.”

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It expressed Trudeau’s “unequivocal condemnation of Hamas’ terrorist attacks, including the atrocious use of Palestinian civilians as human shields” and “that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people nor their legitimate aspirations.”

The PMO said “in the face of the rise of anti-Semitic events in Canada and around the world (he and Gantz) condemned anti-Semitism in all its forms and agreed on the need to address it head-on” and would remain in contact going forward.

The problem isn’t with what Trudeau said Thursday. It was balanced.

The problem is what will be remembered is what he said on Tuesday.

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