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RENAISSANCE

Canadian Lauds
Israel At Knesset

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Lazar Berman

Times of Israel

C

anada supports Israel for
strategic reasons but also
"because it is the right thing
to do:' Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper said Monday, deliv-
ering an overwhelmingly pro-Israel
speech to the Knesset.
After generations of persecution, the
Jewish people deserve their own home-
land, and deserve to live safely and
peacefully in that homeland, he said.
The speech by Harper, in Israel on
his first trip to the Jewish state as the
Canadian prime minister, avoided any
criticism of Israel or settlements, and
only briefly mentioned Canada's desire
for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Instead, Harper closely toed the
official Israeli government line, recog-
nizing Israel as a Jewish state, slam-
ming the international community for
singling out the country and calling on
Palestinians to abandon terrorism.
"A Palestinian state will come, and
one thing that will make it come is
when the regimes that bankroll ter-
rorism realize that the path to peace is
accommodation, not violence he said.
Since his election in 2006, the
Conservative prime minister has been
full throated, unapologetic and seem-
ingly indifferent to consequences in
his support of Israel.
"It is a Canadian tradition to stand
for what is principled and just, regard-
less of whether it is convenient or
popular" he said.
"Support today for the Jewish State
of Israel is more than a moral impera-
tive. It is also of strategic importance,
also a matter of our own long-term
interests:'
Harper, Canada's first evangeli-
cal prime minister in 50 years, also
praised Israel's record on human rights
and economic freedom.
Israel has proven, Harper said, the
only country in the Middle East "in
which human rights, political stability
and economic prosperity may flourish:'
"[Harper] really understands the
importance and moral justification
for a Jewish state — he gets it" Rabbi
Philip Scheim of Toronto's Beth David
Synagogue, who is traveling as part of
Harper's delegation to Israel, told JNS.org.
During the speech, two Arab MKs,
Ahmad Tibi and Hanna Swaid, both
walked out in protest, after a number
of outbursts.

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Stephen Harper meets with Benjamin

Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Jan. 19.

Before the speech, Netanyahu
praised Harper as "having the courage
to say the truth"
Saying the distance between
Jerusalem and Ramallah was shorter
than the length of Toronto's main
downtown avenue, Yonge Street,
Netanyahu pointed to the fact that
Israel had no "margin for error" in
demanding security assurances so that
Israel does not get a repeat of Gaza.
On Iran, Harper said that his
government believes that all diplo-
matic channels to ensure Iran does
not obtain a nuclear weapon should be
explored, rebuffing a statement from
Netanyahu that the recently imple-
mented nuclear deal would not stop
Iran's nuclear program.
However, Harper said his country's
sanctions would remain fully in place.
"And should our hopes not be real-
ized, should the present agreement prove
ephemeral, Canada will be a strong voice
for renewed sanctions" he said.
Harper also compared Israel's enemies
with violent Islamist movements, includ-
ing al-Qaeda. "Those who often begin
by hating the Jews ... history shows us
end up hating anyone who is not them.
Those forces, which have threatened
the State of Israel every single day of
its existence, and which, today, as 9-11
graphically showed us, threaten us all:'
Harper praised military cooperation
between the two countries, saying that
"the use of Israeli-built reconnaissance
equipment saved the lives of many
Canadian soldiers:'
Referring to Canada's Jewish popu-
lation, Harper said, "They are also
immensely proud of what the people of
Israel have accomplished here, of your
courage in war, of your generosity in
peace, and of the bloom that the desert
has yielded under your stewardship.
"Through fire and water" Harper
said, "Canada will stand with you"

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January 23 • 2014

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