Canadian FM: Shoulder to Shoulder with Israel

By Julie Stahl

CBN News Middle East Correspondent

Monday, January 19, 2015

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Canada has more than Israel's back. It's standing by Israel's side, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said on Monday.

Canada -- whose prime minister, Stephen Harper, is an evangelical Christian -- is one of the most pro-Israel countries in the world right now.

"As I've said before, Canada doesn't stand behind Israel; we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with it," Baird said during a press conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu welcomed Baird as "a great champion of peace and security and as a great champion of the truth." He said Baird had consistently "demonstrated a willingness to stand up for what is right and to oppose what is wrong."

"We're all engaged in a great battle against the terrorism of militant Islam. Israel has been continually attacked by this scourge and so has Canada recently. Indeed many parts of the world are suffering from this violent attack,' Netanyahu said.

"To fight Islamist terrorism, we need clarity and courage. Canada has both. You know who is the aggressor; you know who is the defender. You know that Israel legitimately defends itself against the war crimes of Hamas and other terrorist groups," he continued.

"You know that it's a travesty of justice to haul Israel to the dock in The Hague, and you know that the entire system of international law could unravel because of this travesty," he said.

Netanyahu repeated an earlier statement that Israel would not have its hands tied by the International Criminal Court in its fight to defend itself against terrorism.

The ICC announced it was launching a preliminary investigation against Israel on possible war crimes charges relating to its 50-day war against Hamas last summer. There have been no attempts to investigate Hamas despite its rocket fire against Israeli civilians and using its own civilians as human shields.

Baird said that his grandfather had fought in World War II and stayed in the Canadian armed forces for decades after that.

"The great struggles of his generation were fighting fascism and then in the Canadian forces during the Cold War fighting communism. Well the great struggle of our generation is terrorism," Baird said.

"And far too often the State of Israel and the Jewish people around the world are on the front lines of that struggle. And as I've said before, Canada doesn't stand behind Israel; we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with it."

'Canada will not let the Jews or Israel stand alone'

By HERB KEINON

11/30/2012, Jerusalem Post

Canadian foreign minister says Abbas should have used the support he received to reach out to Israel for peace talks.

Photo: Courtesy of Herzliya Conference

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, who delivered a supportive speech of Israel at the UN before its vote Thursday on the Palestinian statehood, said Friday "the bottom line is we will not let the Jewish people and the State of Israel stand alone when the going gets tough."

Baird, in a phone interview from New York, said he had "absolutely no hesitation" about taking the podium and opposing the Palestinian bid, something he knew was not a popular position in the hall.

The Canadian foreign minister criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the hostile tenor of his speech.

"Knowing that he had such overwhelming support, this would have been an occasion for him to reach out to the government and people of Israel, to embrace the Jewish people, to talk about his hopes for peace and be magnanimous," he said. "Unfortunately it was a rather aggressive speech that will really do nothing to advance the cause of peace or the peace process."

Baird said he was "disappointed with some countries in Europe for failing to stand up. I thought the Czech Republic was courageous to take the position it did and stand alone in the European Union. I certainly admire their leadership."

The Czech Republic was the only EU country to vote against the Palestinian resolution, and – along with Israel and Canada – made up a group of nine countries that opposed the bid.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=294114

Canada throws unwavering support behind Israel in Gaza war

Thursday, November 15, 2012 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today  

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper once again demonstrated its unwavering support of Israel on Thursday when it unequivocally backed the Jewish state's military response to incessant terrorist rocket fire.

"We fundamentally believe that Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens from terrorist threats," stated Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird. "Far too often, the Jewish people find themselves on the front lines in the struggle against terrorism, the great struggle of our generation."

Referencing the hundreds of terrorist rockets that sparked Israel's "Operation Pillar of Cloud" - a provocation much of the world has suddenly forgotten about - Baird said that Canada "condemns the terrorist group Hamas and stands with Israel as it deals with regional threats to peace and security."

The Obama Administration also issued a statement of support immediately following the start of Israel's surprise aerial campaign on Wednesday evening.

"We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel," said US State Department spokesman Mark Toner. "We support Israel’s right to defend itself."

However, Toner also threw in what some might see as a veiled warning: "We encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties."

It has been reported time and again that Israel takes more care to avoid civilian casualties than any nation on earth, including the United States. Some Israelis view remarks like Toner's as an assertion of moral superiority, and a suggestion that Israel needs to be reminded to act in a civil manner.

Of course, many also take it as a friendly warning that the rest of the international community is likely to use every Palestinian civilian casualty as a weapon to attack not only Israel's military actions, but its legitimacy as a nation.

Meanwhile, Russia and the Arab world predictably condemned Israel's military response in Gaza while almost completely ignoring the Hamas rocket barrage that preceded it, and Europe registered its displeasure over the "disproportionate" nature of the Israeli action.

Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest, and Israel returned the favor.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23497/Default.aspx