Israel urged Canada to continue Palestine aid
Concern over stability in area led to request, documents show
OTTAWA — Israeli officials encouraged Canada not to cut its foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for the Palestinians seeking upgraded status at the United Nations last year, new documents show.
Canada was one of nine countries that voted against the symbolic but hugely controversial move by the UN General Assembly to grant the Palestinians recognition as a de facto state in November 2012.
In advance of the vote, the Conservative government had warned of “consequences” should the Palestinians push ahead with the initiative, and there were rumblings that Canada might stop providing assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
In 2008, Canada committed $300 million over five years for various development projects within the Palestinian territories, of which at least $40 million was still waiting to be disbursed at the time of the General Assembly vote.
But briefing notes prepared for International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino in advance of the vote, and obtained by Postmedia News, show Israeli officials highlighted the importance of Canadian aid to the Palestinians, and urged Canada to continue its assistance.
“There have been increasing references in the past months during high-level bilateral meetings with the Israelis about the importance and value they place on Canada’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority, most notably in security/justice reform,” reads the note dated Nov. 2, 2012 and signed by Canadian International Development Agency president Margaret Biggs.
“The Israelis have noted the importance of Canada’s contribution to the relative stability achieved through extensive security co-operation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”
The note is heavily censored, but does goes on to state that “the emergence of popular protests on the Palestinian street against the Palestinian Authority is worrying and the Israelis have been imploring the international donor community to continue to support the Palestinian Authority.”
The note was prepared as part of an assessment of options, led by the Foreign Affairs Department, for how to respond to the Palestinian bid for upgraded UN status.
The Israeli comments echo warnings made by some observers at the time that cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority would destabilize it, and possibly push average Palestinians into the arms of its rival, Islamic militant group Hamas.
Despite Canadian opposition, which included a last-minute, personal intervention by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of increasing the Palestinians’ status four weeks later, on Nov. 29.
The Conservative government immediately responded by saying it would be reviewing its current and future aid commitments.
However, it later said it would fulfil its $300-million commitment, which expired at the end of March, and last month announced $25 million in new aid for Palestinians.
That includes $20 million in humanitarian assistance and $3.6 million to continue training Palestinian security forces, including through a U.S.-led program called Operation Proteus.
Asked whether Israeli government input was responsible for Canada continuing to provide aid to the Palestinian Authority, Baird spokesman Rick Roth said in an email: “Canada consults with a wide range of countries and stakeholders in the area, and judges past investments on results.”
An Israeli Embassy spokesman said in a statement that “Israel supports a stable and reliable Palestinian Authority with a dependable security system and an effective judiciary, and Israelis “appreciate Canada’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority in these important areas.”
Shimon Fogel, head of the Toronto-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said Canada “still maintains absolute independence in formulating its foreign policy,” and while it consults allies and stakeholders regularly, “in the final analysis, the policy is made in Canada and reflects Canadian considerations.”
But former Canadian ambassador Mike Molloy said the notes and the Conservative government’s subsequent decision to continue providing support to the Palestinians demonstrates what happens when its pro-Israel rhetoric runs up against Israel’s actual desires.
“I think this is another example of the government acting or contemplating action in support of Israel without taking the trouble to determine where Israel’s real interests lie,” Molloy said.
He said the same thing happened in 2010 when the government redirected $15 million in annual support for the UN agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.
The decision to stop providing direct budgetary support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, was applauded by some segments of the pro-Israel lobby in Canada.
However, documents obtained by Ottawa-based diplomatic newspaper Embassy in July 2011 showed Israel was among a number of countries that unsuccessfully urged Canada to reverse its decision.