Chag Sameach from the Embassy of Canada in Israel

 

March 20, 2018

 

Just before I board the plane for my outreach trip to western Canada, I want to take this opportunity to write to all of you who support us and follow closely the work of our Embassy team. It is hard to believe the fall and winter months have flown by and that we are soon celebrating Passover. But, as I hope you will appreciate through this letter, your Embassy has been hard at work deepening our ties with Israel.

 

This is the third in our Ambassador Letter series. Since Rosh Hashanah, the last time I wrote to you, we have hosted several high-level visits. Canada’s Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, visited in January for aviation security discussions, technology partnering and to announce an expanded air transport agreement. Minister Garneau and his Israeli counterpart, Minister Israel Katz, agreed to more flights each week between Canada and Israel (almost 50% more), including additional summer flights between Montréal and Tel Aviv. We look forward to the increased business and tourism this will bring.

 

I have also been fortunate to host many of my Canadian colleagues for consultations with the Government of Israel. Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Marc-André Blanchard, Canada’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen, Denis Horak, and Canada’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuelle Lamoureux, shared their perspectives and engaged with Israeli counterparts to discuss strategies to address Israel’s political and security concerns. The visit of Ambassador Blanchard coincided with that of Minister Garneau during the week of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and both were able to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and lay wreaths on behalf of Canada.

 

The Embassy has facilitated important visits of senior officials to ensure the agreements between Canada and Israel are robust and productive. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ian Shugart hosted his Israeli counterpart Yuval Rotem in Ottawa in November to share foreign policy and security perspectives. In December, Canadian delegations came to Jerusalem for counter-terrorism consultations and digital diplomacy consultations. (Note that Canada and Israel were ranked in the top ten by Diplomacy Live for our governments’ reach to decision makers and the public through social media.) Lastly, I travelled in January to Abu Dhabi for a meeting of Canadian Ambassadors from the region where I was able to share with my colleagues Israel’s remarkable successes, but also its political and security concerns. While there I chaired a session on Diversity and Inclusion, allowing me to showcase Israel’s under-recognized, but fully deserved, pluralistic character.

 

Business and innovation ties between Canada and Israel continue to grow. At the end of January, I had the pleasure to host the launch of TD Bank’s new innovation centre in Tel Aviv, the first Canadian bank to establish such a presence in the country. In February, a Canadian Trade Commissioners delegation visited Israel for a timely innovation dialogue. On the issue of a modernized Canada Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA), work continues between the negotiating teams of our two countries, and I hope to be able to update you on this in my next letter. We have many trade, investment and innovation initiatives planned for the next 12 months, so stay tuned!

 

Canada believes strongly in a two-state solution and we will continue to work towards this end for a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. As you all know, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and decided to move the American embassy there. Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said, “Canada is a steadfast ally and friend of Israel and friend to the Palestinian people. Canada’s longstanding position is that the status of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. 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.” You should know that I work closely with US Ambassador David Friedman and that I met recently with US negotiator Jason Greenblatt to discuss the peace process and how Canada can play a useful role to support Israelis and the Palestinians, alongside our American colleagues.

 

You may be aware that a challenging issue has received additional media attention here in the past few months. Thousands of largely African asylum seekers are requesting legal protection in Israel and hoping to avoid deportation en masse. This is an important issue for the Canadian government and for me personally, as Canada resettles the largest number of these asylum seekers in Canada each year – in 2017, almost 1100 Eritreans in Israel were granted Permanent Residency in Canada as privately-sponsored refugees. Canada does not support policies of mass deportations of asylum-seekers. The rights of asylum-seekers and refugees are laid out in the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, of which Israel and Canada are signatories. I have spoken with both the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Interior to ensure protections for those asylum seekers that are applying for resettlement in Canada. No doubt you will all hear more on this issue in the coming months. I must say that I am very proud of the work that Canada is doing.

 

We have also had an extremely active period in our cultural relations. Thanks to a new cultural fund in Ottawa and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, we were able to help support Montreal documentary film producer Edith Jorisch and the screening of her wonderful film, The Heir, at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival. Canadians Allen and Karen Kaeja also visited to teach their Contact Improvisational Dance technique at an Israeli festival in the north and centre of the country, and Canadian photographer, Laura Letinsky, came to Israel to present her exhibition at the International Photography Festival in Tel Aviv. I was also able to open a beautiful, moving Leonard Cohen memorial kiosk at Beit Hatfutsot, the museum of the Jewish people, in Tel Aviv. I am hoping to help the museum raise funds in the coming months for a full exhibition of Cohen’s work. Leonard Cohen is truly a Canadian icon. His deep Jewish heritage and connection to Israel compels us to share him with his adoring Israeli public.

 

We look back with pride at our achievements since Rosh Hashanah and look forward to a spring season full of new energy and potential. The season begins with my visit to western Canada, as I mentioned above, and in May a visit to Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal Toronto and Atlantic Canada. Canadians needs to know about the great opportunities in the Canada-Israel partnership. I value your perspectives on our work and your ideas to bring us closer still.

 

I wish you and your families a wonderful Passover. Chag Sameach and I look forward to catching up with you again soon.

 

Sincerely,

 

Deborah Lyons

Ambassador

Embassy of Canada in Israel