The Canadian Press
Stephanie Levitz
OTTAWA–Foreign Affairs minister Chrystia Freeland added her voice to a chorus of global leaders appealing for calm in the Middle East yesterday in the wake of the Trump administration’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Canadians in the region were being urged to exercise caution around planned protests against the U.S. announcement, which included a process to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv–upending decades of U.S. policy.
By recognizing Israel’s claim to Jerusalem, Trump is seen by the Palestinians as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in the conflict.
The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967, for their capital.
But Trump declared it was time for a new approach to Mideast peace after decades of failure. Calling Jerusalem Israel’s capital, he argued, merely was recognizing the obvious.
“We cannot solve our problems by making the same failed assumptions and repeating the same failed strategies of the past,” the president said.
Freeland had been briefed on the announcement in a call Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, sources told The Canadian Press.
The two are together this week at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where Tillerson has been getting an earful from world leaders over Trump’s move.
“We are strongly committed to the goal of a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East, including the creation of a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel,” Freeland said in a statement.
“We call for calm and continue to support the building of conditions necessary for the parties to find a solution.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudueau, on a state visit to China, told reporters earlier today that Canada will keep its embassy in Tel Aviv.
“Canada has a long-standing policy on the Mideast that we need to work toward a two-state solution through direct negotiations,” Trudeau said.
“We will continue to engage constructively and substantively in the region with partners and friends around the world.”
World leaders from the Pope to the Chinese government raised concerns yesterday that Trump’s move would escalate tensions in the region further and threaten the ongoing peace process, as well as any potential for the U.S. to broker any kind of peace.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation was “profoundly grateful” and Trump’s announcement was an “important step toward peace.”
However, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the U.S. shift “is a declaration of withdrawal from the role it has played in the peace process.”
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said the U.S. decision was counterproductive and Canada should speak up.
“It is something that needs to be pointed out as being divisive,” Singh said.
The Conservatives offered no comment, perhaps remembering their own political history.
Much like Trump’s decision was part of a campaign promise, back in 1979, then-Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark made a similar promise ahead of the federal campaign.
He reiterated it upon winning power, but backed away from the idea after a significant outcry from business and community leaders.
Even former prime minister Stephen Harper, a staunch supporter of Israel, never proposed the idea, though his former foreign affairs minister courted some controversy when he met with an Israeli politician in east Jerusalem, which many diplomats refuse to do.
Groups that advocate on behalf of the Jewish community do feel the Liberals should follow Trump.
“Since the re-establishment of the modern State of Israel, Jerusalem has been the home to Israel’s democratically-elected parliament, independent supreme court, and national government offices,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a statement.
“We have always maintained that Canada should formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
