By Lynne Cohen
It seems the two neighbouring countries that share the 49th parallel could not be further apart on the issues of Israel and the safety of their respective Jewish communities. Meeting at U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate just before New Year’s Eve, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump appeared warm 
and congenial, like close friends. The President praised the PM for fulfilling all the requirements of the Gaza peace plan, while signalling to Hamas it would be eradicated if it continued failing to meet its commitments. Meanwhile, Trump warned Iran it would face renewed U.S. military action if the terrorist state decided to resuscitate its nuclear weapons program.
What was the message to Israel? That it had an unshakeable friend and ally as long as Trump was in the White House. In fact, Jews the world over could feel a measure of security under his Administration. With these and many other acts, Trump is proving himself to be the most pro-Jewish president since, perhaps, George Washington himself.
The contrast with Canada’s policies – and leadership – is stark. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is increasingly separating itself from the Jewish country, including by “recognizing” a Palestinian state, though none in reality exists. Ottawa also has accepted certain institutions deeply antagonistic to Jewish interests. For example, Canada has gone back to funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a group with sinister ties to the October 7, 2023 massacre (including harbouring Hamas employees on its own payroll), and to schools that teach children in Gaza to hate Israel and Jews.
Furthermore, Netanyahu could be arrested were he to set foot in Canada, due to Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau accepting as valid an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Israeli PM. The U.S., by contrast, does not even recognize the ICC and has moved to sanction the judges who issued the warrant against Netanyahu.
True, the U.S. has experienced more violent and deadly antisemitism than has Canada. Even before the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, the American Jewish community suffered appalling violence, including the 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue and the 2025 double murder of young Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. The response in fighting back against the scourge of Jew-hatred, however, from every government level in the U.S. as well as large pockets of society in general, has been much more serious, concerted and effective.
In short: Canada hesitates, America operates. An important difference from Trump’s first term – and a further distinction from the shambolic efforts of Canada’s federal government – is the unity of purpose, vigour and competence shown by the president’s cabinet secretaries, the heads of key federal agencies and the senior officials who report to them. The U.S. federal level also benefits from far deeper “bench strength” than Canada’s, with senior Republican Senators distinguishing themselves in the campaign to counter antisemitism. Successive congressional hearings and resolutions have illuminated, denounced and implemented measures against Jew-hatred.
Trump’s pro-Israel and pro-Jewish policies began in his first term. First, he took a risk and moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem amidst predictions of violent uprisings among Arabs and Muslims, which did not materialize in that case. Trump also recognized Israeli ownership of the Golan Heights, a small region long held by Syria that is essential to Israel’s physical security. And with the help of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump brokered the Abraham Accords, which brought about the remarkable achievement of four Arab states normalizing relations with Israel.
His second term moves have been more inwardly focused, beginning with a far-reaching Executive Order that commits the entire U.S. federal apparatus to using all available legal means to fight acts of antisemitic hatred. Trump’s battles with universities that indulged pro-Hamas encampments and harassment of Jewish students have been fierce, sustained and largely successful. Some of the schools, including Harvard University, faced losing billions of dollars in federal grants, as well as civil rights investigations and lawsuits. Buckling to this pressure, several are reluctantly but meaningfully dismantling the worst of their antisemitic policies.
State governors and mayors – mostly Republican – have joined the fight against Jew-hatred as well. In June, four Republican governors jointly wrote an article entitled “How GOP governors are leading the charge against antisemitism – and for civil rights”, published in the New York Post.
Excluding New York City, where the recent election of Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim “democratic socialist”, has set Jewish teeth on edge, municipal leaders have increasingly been collaborating with each other. The second annual Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, for example, attracted 230 participants, including a few from Canada.
Of course, U.S. efforts are not perfect or complete. The torching of Mississippi’s oldest synagogue in early January, apparently by a lone arsonist, was as worrying as it was outrageous. But there is no question that that country’s determination and success overwhelm – and shame – Canada’s serial passivity.
The message for Canada is obvious: take the bull by the horns! Act against antisemitism authoritatively through the legal system, the police, immigration policy, funding, schooling and moral clarity. Only then can Canada’s 400,000 Jewish citizens feel secure once more; and only then will Canada regain its moral compass.
The original, full-length version of this article was recently published in C2C Journal.
Lynne Cohen is a non-practising lawyer and journalist. She has written six books, of which four have been published, including the ghost-written Holocaust memoir The Life of Moshele Der Zinger: How My Singing Saved My Life.
One Response
Canadians seem to be incapable of learning.