Blair says controversial motion on arms exports doesn't change government's approach to Israel

Defence Minister Bill Blair said Thursday that despite this week's drama over a divisive House of Commons vote calling for an end to future arms exports to Is‐ rael, the Commons-ap‐ proved motion doesn't change Canada's approach to the file at all.

"We haven't changed," he told CBC's Power & Politics Thursday. "I would character‐ ize this as a continuation of existing government policy."

Most Liberal MPs, includ‐ ing cabinet ministers, joined the NDP in backing a motion Monday calling for an end to new export permits for arms bound for Israel. The motion was heavily amended by the Liberals before going to a vote.

But confusion over what the motion actually does in practice has been growing in the days since - with some groups arguing it amounts to an arms embargo and others saying it simply reinforces business as usual.

While the motion is nonbinding, Foreign Affairs Min‐ ister Mélanie Joly told re‐ porters that it is "clearly the intent of this government to make sure that we follow what is written in this mo‐ tion." Her office also said Canada stopped approving permits for Israel on Jan. 8.

Blair said the government will respect export permits approved before that day and pause approvals going forward.

"And Global Affairs as of Jan. 8 has not issued any new permits for military equip‐ ment to Israel and will not. And they've made that clear well before this motion," he said.

Before backing the mo‐ tion Monday, the govern‐ ment adjusted a section which originally called on the federal government to "sus‐ pend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel." The approved amend‐ ment now agrees to "cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel."

In a statement issued af‐ ter the motion passed, NDP MP Heather McPherson who spearheaded the mo‐ tion - said her party expected the "government to end all arms exports to Israel."

WATCH | NDP motion on Israel-Hamas war passes after major amendments

"There is no justification for sending arms into any conflict where there is a po‐ tential for them to be used in human rights abuses," she said.

The controversial Canadi‐ an motion originally called for the federal government to officially recognize Pales‐ tinian statehood but was amended before a late-night vote on Parliament Hill.

Adviser compares mo‐ tion to Canada's WWII policy

Israel has condemned the motion.

On Thursday, Ophir Falk, a foreign affairs adviser to Is‐ raeli Prime Minister Ben‐ jamin Netanyahu, compared the symbolic House of Com‐ mons motion to Canada's an‐ tisemitic immigration policies prior to the Second World

War.

"We appreciate the sup‐ port we've received from Canada and and we hope that continues," Falk told host David Cochrane.

"But it looks like this is an‐ other 'none is too many' mo‐ ment for Canada. That's very unfortunate."

The phrase "none is too many" has been attributed to a government official in Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's govern‐ ment who was asked in 1945 how many Jews should be admitted to Canada.

The phrase has been used to describe the antisemitic sentiments that guided Canada's immigration poli‐ cies at the time. From 1933 to 1945, only about 5,000 Jewish refugees were ac‐ cepted into Canada.

Those sentiments had tragic results. In 1939, the Canadian government turned away a boatload of German Jews seeking refuge from the Nazis. About 500 of them en‐ ded up back in Germany, where 254 were killed in con‐ centration and internment camps.

In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially apol‐ ogized for the Canadian gov‐ ernment's decision to refuse the MS St. Louis's passengers the right to disembark.

"If this motion goes through, it is a badge of shame," said Falk.

"I understand that the Canadian government, Prime Minister Trudeau, does not want to provide us with the tools to win. Israel will win." Blair pushed back. "I believe he's wrong, that that's a little hyperbolic," he said. "The position of of of Canada has been well articu‐ lated well before that resolu‐ tion."

Israel launched an offen‐ sive in the Gaza Strip follow‐ ing the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7. The surprise Hamas assault left some 1,200 peo‐ ple - mostly civilians but also soldiers, police officers and security officials - dead in Is‐ rael, according to officials, and saw hundreds of hostages taken to Gaza.

Gaza health officials said that as of last week, Israel's military campaign had killed more than 31,000 people, in‐ cluding thousands of chil‐ dren, and had displaced nearly two million more.

Falk disputed those fig‐ ures and reiterated Israel's stance that it does not target civilians and is only inter‐ ested in eliminating the mili‐ tant Islamist movement Hamas.

Earlier this week, a UNbacked report said famine is imminent in northern Gaza

and could spread across the territory as the war rages in‐ to its fifth month.

The Integrated Food Secu‐ rity Phase Classification re‐ port goes on to say that hun‐ dreds of thousands of people in the Palestinian enclave will experience "catastrophic" lev‐ els of hunger.

On Monday, the European Union accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war - a claim that Israel also rejects.