On Tuesday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada will halt future arms shipments to Israel following a non-binding vote in the House of Commons.
The ruling follows a parliamentary motion introduced by the New Democratic Party (NDP) that called on the governing Liberals to cease future arms exports to Israel. The New Democrats, supporters of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government, have voiced their dissatisfaction with what they see as his failure to do enough to protect civilians in Gaza.
Canada to Halt Arms Exports to Israel
The motion passed 204-117 with the support of the Liberals, Bloc Québécois, and Green party and demanded that Canada should work "towards the establishment of the state of Palestine."
A last-minute agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, which had earlier demanded that the government "recognize the state of Palestine," led to the victorious vote late on Monday.
The vote does not seem to alter Canada's position that Palestinian statehood should come as the result of a negotiated settlement with Israel.
Canada previously said that even though it had stopped granting Israel military export permits, it was still reviewing applications "case-by-case."
Trudeau said that he believes Israel has the right to self-defense. However, he has become increasingly critical of Israel for its current attack on Gaza, which was launched after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
Although the proposal was considered "watered-down" by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, they acknowledged that it was a small step forward in ending Canadian complicity in Israel's genocidal war in Gaza.
The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs lobby group referred to the outcome as "misguided and disingenuous" after the motion was put to a vote.
"It will not effectively address the humanitarian crisis. It will not liberate Gazans from the tyrannical rule of the Iranian proxy, Hamas. It will not promote peace," the group said.
Furthermore, it said that it is shameful that the Liberal government has drawn moral equivalence between Israel, a declared democratic ally, and Hamas, a Canadian government-listed terrorist entity.
Israeli Foreign Minister Slams Canada's Ruling
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has criticized Canada for their decision. He said in a statement that it was unfortunate that the government of Canada is taking this step that undermines Israel's right to self-defense in the face of Hamas murderers who carried out horrible crimes against humanity and against innocent Israelis, including the elderly, women, and children.
He added that history will judge the current acts of Canada harshly.
The initial motion demanded a suspension of all trade in military goods and technology with Israel, as well as an immediate ceasefire and an end to the illegal delivery of arms to Hamas. It also called for the release of all the hostages that Hamas had taken during the October 7 attack.
