Ottawa’s move will “not change anything in the Middle East except embolden terrorists,” Sharren Haskel says.

By JNS staff and Amelie Botbol

Canada’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September will only serve to embolden Hamas terrorists, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told JNS on Thursday.

“Any unilateral recognition by Canada of a Palestinian state is rewarding Hamas with a state after they committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” the Toronto-born minister told JNS.

Ottawa’s decision is “completely shameful whilst Hamas still holds 50 hostages in the most horrific conditions,” she said, charging it would “not change anything in the Middle East except embolden terrorists.”

In a statement outlining its position on Wednesday, Canada claimed the decision stems from its commitment to a two-state solution and its support for all those “who choose peace over violence or terrorism.”

Ottawa said that the viability of a two-state solution is increasingly in doubt, citing a range of developments that have “steadily and gravely eroded” the prospects for a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Ottawa stated that its recognition of “Palestine” was conditioned on a series of measures by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, including significant administrative reforms, the holding of elections in which Hamas will be barred from participating, and the demilitarization of the future state.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move, calling the policy shift a reward for terrorism that jeopardizes efforts to secure a truce in Gaza.

“This change in the Canadian government’s position at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages,” the ministry stated.

Knesset member Dan Illouz, a Montreal-born lawmaker for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, in a missive to his Canadian counterparts on Wednesday slammed Ottawa for “rewarding the bloodiest antisemitic atrocity of our generation” on Oct. 7, 2023.

Ottawa is “handing political gains to those who butchered children in their beds and raped women in front of their families,” said Illouz, who chairs the Knesset’s Israel-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group.

“Your government’s move is not an act of friendship,” Illouz continued. “I call on you—Canadian MPs of conscience—to speak out. To push back. To refuse to let Canada’s name be used to legitimize terror.”

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters that the United Kingdom intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza” and agrees to a ceasefire and to “commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.”

The announcement came five days after French President Emmanuel Macron revealed his plans to recognize “Palestine,” stating on July 24: “I will make the solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in September.’”