On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded they had identified the real criminals in the Israel-Gaza war and issued arrest warrants for Israel’s leaders. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were cited as being criminally responsible for a “war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” In this, the ICC continues the general degradation of the West’s formerly venerable institutions with their seemingly bottomless inability to distinguish right from wrong.
Not content to let the ICC wallow alone in the foul pigsty of moral turpitude that its decision creates, Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government decided to join in. The stench of antisemitism emanating from Ottawa is apparently not yet strong enough for the prime minister and he just couldn’t resist. When asked whether Canada would comply with the ICC warrant in the unlikely event Netanyahu or Gallant ended up on Canadian soil, Trudeau refused to say no. Instead he noted that it was “really important that everyone abide by international law” and that Canada “will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the internationals courts. It’s just who we are as Canadians.” So, in other words: yes, we will arrest them.
Colour me not shocked by this response, but do add another item to the infinite ways in which this government and prime minister can disappoint Canadians and defenestrate their values whenever it’s politically expedient.
Let’s say this as clearly as we can. “Who we are as Canadians” is most certainly not predicated on support for the ICC. Do we perhaps believe in its founding principles? Sure. But, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, and, besides, the case against Netanyahu is baseless. Israel is fighting a defensive war to eliminate the threat from Hamas, and has worked to ensure humanitarian aid is permitted into Gaza.
And, I would argue, what defines Canadians much more precisely is a population, which generally does not support terrorists and murderers, despite the pro-Hamas protesters in the streets.
There is no spin, no word-salad messaging which can get around Canada’s disgraceful failure to clearly and unequivocally stand with the correct side on the Israel-Hamas conflict. The government has, from the beginning, equivocated, stalled and talked out of both sides of its mouth vaguely about the need for “a ceasefire” or “peaceful resolutions.” All the while conveniently forgetting and ignoring why the conflict started in the first place and who is responsible for the bloodshed and who perpetrated the October 7 massacre.
Trudeau’s latest evasiveness around the ICC arrest warrants is a pathetic insight into his take on the plight of Jewish people in Canada. At lunch today with a Jewish friend of mine in Vancouver he noted that now, in order to go to events and synagogue, he and his community have to go through airport-like security just to feel safe. Let that sink in. Airport-security in your regular day to day just to feel safe. Meanwhile, our prime minister tacitly acknowledges the real criminal in all of this is Benjamin Netanyahu.
Over the past year, we have witnessed the most blatant demonstrations of hatred in my lifetime as odious losers parade unopposed and spew their anti-Israeli bile in our streets and on our campuses. All the while, a government and prime minister who love nothing more than to find hatred and racism in every possible corner of society, can’t bring themselves to firmly commit to supporting Israel and Jews against real barbarism. Stand up to the murderers and butchers of October 7 and their heinous supporters? No, Trudeau would rather decolonize the quadratic formula and arrest the Israeli prime minister.
There are times in any government or politician’s tenure when a clear line must be drawn about where they stand on issues of true moral importance. The ICC decision is one and Trudeau and the Liberals have once again failed Canadians, our values and our Jewish community. It is nothing short of a complete disgrace.
Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.