Today, we and our partner JSpaceCanada published the results of a survey of Canadian Jews that we commissioned with public opinion research firm EKOS and with advice by Prof. Robert Brym. The survey asked Canadian Jews to rate their reactions to the court override efforts, as well as more gender segregation, rollbacks of women’s and LGBTQ rights, increased settlements and moves towards annexation.
Read the full report below. | Download it here. | Share it via email.
The results are overwhelming – vastly more Jews in Canada oppose these initiatives and by wide margins.
- Some 73% of Canadian Jews oppose judicial reform that would make it easier for the Israeli government to reverse Supreme Court decisions.
- Two-thirds of Canada’s Jews oppose the idea of disallowing Palestinians from serving in the Israeli parliament, compared to just 15% who support the idea.
- About twice as many Canadian Jews oppose building new Jewish settlements in the West Bank and incorporating parts of the West Bank into the State of Israel as favour such initiatives.
- Nearly 6 in 10 Canadian Jews agree that the Canadian government should refuse to meet or build relationships with Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, while just 2 in 10 disagree. (The poll was closed before the terrible statements by Smotrich following Huwara – we could imagine support even higher now.)
This comes as no surprise to us, because this is what we heard over the past few weeks during our cross-country speaking tour. Hundreds of people came out despite heavy snow and we received support from major rabbis and communal leaders along the way. People are upset and worried – and also motivated when they hear what they can do to help.
This shows that Jewish leaders and our elected government representatives who wish to accurately reflect the community’s views must speak clearly and loudly in opposition to these dangerous anti-democratic proposals.
United in Opposition - Canadian Jews Oppose Policies Proposed by the Israeli Government - March 2023
Click here to download the report.
Clarification
Our United in Opposition survey report says that Mr. Shimon Fogel, the President and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), has publicly defended measures such as segregation in public spaces. Mr. Fogel has informed us that our statement is categorically false. Our statement was based on our honestly held interpretation of an interview of Mr. Fogel during a Canadian Jewish News’ podcast that Mr. Fogel and CIJA say is inaccurate. CIJA and Mr. Fogel clarified to us that they do not support gender segregation in public spaces. The New Israel Fund of Canada and JSpace have no hesitation in recognizing that Mr. Fogel is a widely respected professional who has dedicated decades of his life to Canada’s Jewish Community.
