Canada and Israel share bilateral diplomatic, commercial, and cultural ties. Canada recognised Israel on 11 May 1949, three days before the first anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, and currently maintains an embassy in Tel Aviv; Israel maintains an embassy in Ottawa, at 50 O'Connor Street, and regional consulates in Montreal and Toronto.
Early history In the 1930s, as tensions rose between the Arab and Jewish populations of Mandatory Palestine, restrictions were placed by the British authorities on Jewish immigration to the region. During this time, Canadian prime minister Mackenzie King, who has been accused of harbouring latent anti-Semitism during his lifetime, passively accepted the British anti-immigration policies in the Mandate. In general, the immigration of Jews to the Holy Land was not met with opposition or concern in Canada; however, institutions and groups such as the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec expressed hostility toward Jews and Zionism, largely on the basis of existing theological prejudices.
In 1947, as a representative on the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), Canada was among the 33 countries that voted in favour of the Partition Plan for Palestine, which aimed to split the British Mandate into an Arab state and a Jewish state with an internationalised Jerusalem. Despite heavy pressure from the United Kingdom on the Commonwealth of Nations to abstain during the vote, the Partition Plan was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with a majority of the representatives in favour. While the Partition Plan could not be implemented as intended due to the outbreak of a civil war in the territory, the State of Israel emerged with an agreed border by 1949.
Canada granted de facto recognition to Israel in December 1948 and full de jure recognition on 11 May 1949 after the Jewish state was admitted into the United Nations as a member state. One week later, Avraham Harman was appointed as Israel's first Consul-General to Canada. In September 1953, a Canadian embassy was opened in Tel Aviv, and Michael Comay was appointed as the Israeli ambassador to Canada; a Canadian ambassador to Israel was appointed in 1958.
Diplomatic relations in the 20th century
In May 1961, David Ben-Gurion was the first Israeli Prime Minister to make an official visit to Canada. Since then, officials from both countries have made frequent trips. Members of Parliament, Cabinet Ministers and Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada have visited, Israel demonstrating the ever strengthening relationship and cooperation. In addition, the premiers of Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Alberta and cabinet ministers from other provinces, have led successful commercial and cultural missions to Israel. A number of Canadian municipalities are twinning with Israeli cities. In 1957, after the Sinai Campaign, Lester Pearson, the Secretary of State for External Affairs, received the Nobel Peace Prize for successfully leading the process by which UN peace keeping troops were stationed along the border between Israel and Egypt. Canadian troops also played a central role in the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). This role is part of the wider Canadian commitment to efforts designed to end the Arab-Israel conflict. Later, in the late 1970s, Canada encouraged the peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Begin stopped in Canada and met with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1977.
In general, while diplomatic relations were cordial, they were not particularly close during this period. A number of Canadian diplomats, like their European counterparts, tended to support the Arab positions against Israel in the United Nations and other frameworks. The Canadian Arabists, such as Ambassador Michael D. Bell, sought to align policy with the Arab states in order to promote commercial interests, and to gain Arab support for Canadian candidates and positions, in the United Nations. These positions generated considerable friction with Israel.
In the 1970s, the issue of Canadian complicity in the Arab economic warfare against Israel became an issue, particularly as cooperation with the boycott was illegal in the U.S., and was inconsistent with Canada's declaratory role as a global peace-maker. Ontario and Manitoba adopted anti-boycott policies, leading Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to consider federal legislation to prohibit Canadians and Canadian companies from cooperating with the Arab economic boycott of Israel. When corporate interests dealing with Arab and Muslim opposed the legislation, fearing a backlash, Trudeau allowed the legislation to die.
During Brian Mulroney's time in office, Canada's support for Israel received strong public endorsement during the Gulf War, during which Iraqi missiles were fired into Israel from occupied Kuwait. Canadian forces were part of the United States-led coalition against Ba'athist Iraq during this time.
In the multilateral negotiations that took place after the 1991 Madrid Conference, Canada agreed to head the multilateral working group on Palestinian refugee issues. Although a number of meetings were held and different options were discussed, no agreements were reached. In 1995, the multilateral talks reached an impasse.
Since 1995, Palestine has had a diplomatic delegation, the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada, in Ottawa. This flowed from the decision of the Jean Chretien government in support of the Oslo Accords.
Diplomatic relations in the 21st century
The Harper government played a direct role in forming policy for the region, seeking to adjust the positions to be in conformity with the principles of the Conservative majority. Consequently, diplomats who promoted anti-Israel or Arabist policies lost influence.
As anti-Israel political movements spread to Canada, including at university campuses through events such as Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), Canadian government officials and members of parliament from different parties expressed opposition. In 2010, Conservative MP Tim Uppal introduced a motion in the Canadian House of Commons that condemned IAW "for seeking to delegitimize the State of Israel by equating it with the racist South African apartheid regime." NDP and Bloc Québécois members refused to agree to its unanimous passage. The Bloc submitted its own motion, which also criticised use of the word "apartheid" but added a clause, stating not every criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. The result was that all parties, with the exception of some NDP members, denounced Israeli Apartheid Week.Layton hopes Israel issue disappears, John Ivison, National Post, Tuesday, 16 March 2010
On 29 April 2009, to mark the 61st anniversary of the State of Israel, PM Stephen Harper said "We count ourselves among Israel's closest partners. Since its founding, Canada has supported Israel and its right to live in peace and security with its neighbours. We value this relationship and look forward to continued friendship and collaboration."
In a magazine interview published 12 February 2010, Environment Minister Peter Kent said: "Prime Minister Harper has made it quite clear for some time now and has regularly stated that an attack on Israel would be considered an attack on Canada."Kent: An Attack on Israel is an Attack on Canada , By: ELAD BENARI, Shalom Life, Published: 12 February 2010Attack on Israel is an attack on Canada, Kent says, Steven Chase, Globe and Mail, 16 February 2010
Following the return of the Liberal Party to power under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015, relations between Canada and Israel remained largely unchanged. In September 2016, Trudeau headed the Canadian delegation to the state funeral of Israeli leader Shimon Peres, and in his condolence message, stated: "Mr. Peres was an internationally-respected statesman and a great friend to Canada. He visited our country often, and helped build relations that remain strong to this day."
On 7 October 2023 occurred the Hamas-led attack on Israel. The day after the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Trudeau issued a statement condemning Hamas’ attack and affirming Israel’s right to defend itself while maintaining international law. On 24 October 2023, Trudeau rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza War but said he supported "humanitarian pauses" to deliver aid to the people of the Gaza Strip. However, on 14 November 2023, Trudeau urged Israel to stop "this killing of women, of children, of babies" in the Gaza Strip. His statements were subsequently criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Over the course of the war, Canada implemented an arms embargo on Israel and issued sanctions against several Israeli settlers and organizations, citing West Bank violence. Trudeau neither endorsed nor rejected South Africa's genocide case against Israel. In 2024, Trudeau stated that Canada would "abide" by the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation in Palestine's issuing of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu if he entered the country.
In February 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested that some Palestinians from Gaza should immigrate to Canada because Canada has a "structured immigration program". In April 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney disagreed with the accusation that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
In May 2025, Canada summoned the Israeli ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed after Israeli forces fired warning shots towards a diplomatic delegation that included four Canadians, during a visit in Jenin. In an interview with CBC News, Moed claimed that the diplomats may have been "led astray." In an interview with Global News, he stated that Canada–Israel relations were in a "new atmosphere." Prime Minister Carney described the shooting as "totally unacceptable: it's one of many things that are totally unacceptable going on in the region.", with political commentators viewing the relationship between the two countries as breaking down. On 19 May 2025, Canada, along with Britain and France, issued a joint statement condemning Israel's "egregious" actions in Gaza. They warned of the possibility of "further concrete actions" if Israel continued its military offensive and failed to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid. In June 2025, Carney compared the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and occupation of the West Bank to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In October 2025, Carney confirmed that Canada would fulfill its commitments to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and stated that, should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enter Canadian territory, he would be detained.
In May 2026, the Israeli ambassador to Canada stated that Canada-Israel relations were "the worst it’s ever been". The Canadian government had warned Israel against an invasion of Lebanon and sharply criticized the governments treatment of activists on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for Gaza. The following month, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced further sanctions against what it described as facilitators of "extremist settler violence" in the West Bank.
Israeli foreign interference in Canada Israeli agents working for the Mossad are widely believed to be responsible for the assassination of Gerald Bull, a Canadian engineer, in Brussels, Belgium in 1990.. Allegations of an Israeli disinformation campaign in Canada using Artificial Intelligence to influence the public in supporting Israel's war in Gaza emerged in 2024. Chrystia Freeland, the deputy Prime Minister, described the actions as 'not acceptable.' In 2026, it was reported that Israel was sponsoring an anti-BDS lawfare program that involved Canadian lawyers. This program was reported to be in violation of Canadian foreign interference laws.
Canada, Israel, and the United Nations