Canada will impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, the country’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on Tuesday. "It’s a real thing," Joly told Canadian newspaper The Toronto Star on Tuesday. The decision follows a vote of 204-117 in the Canadian parliament on Monday in favor of ending the sales. While it originally called for a suspension, it was later changed into a full ban.
"There are a number of existing contracts that are already in place, but this was on a going-forward basis, I think that's how the minister's looking at it. There has been a lot of concern expressed with respect to … lethal military sales to Israel during the conflict," Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday.
Ottawa had previously temporarily suspended export permits for military goods to Israel. However, Global Affairs Canada, the government body in charge of diplomatic and consular relations, continued to receive applications for weapon exports to Israel, reviewing them on a case-by-case basis.
Following the parliament vote on Monday, Canada decided to honor the decision. Tel Aviv viewed the motion as an attack on Israel’s ‘right to self-defense’ against Hamas.
"It is unfortunate that the Canadian government is taking a step that undermines Israel's right to self-defense against the Hamas murderers who have committed terrible crimes against humanity and against innocent Israeli citizens… History will judge the Canadian government's current move harshly," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in response.
The original motion, brought forward by Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), included a call for the recognition of a Palestinian state and sanctions on Israeli officials for incitement of genocide. Yet the motion was toned down in a deal between the NDP and Canada’s liberal government.
"This evening’s vote by Parliament did not go nearly as far as we had hoped for, but is nonetheless a small step forward for ending Canadian complicity in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza," Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CPJME) said in a statement after the vote on Monday.
CPJME said it was "deeply disappointed that much of the language in the amended motion has been watered down or modified in a way that promotes false Israeli narratives and an acquiescence to the horrific status quo," adding that the "watering down of the NDP resolution weakens the significance of Parliament’s vote."
This is a moral boosting but, unfortunately, an unbinding decision. #Canada's government will stop sending weapons to #Israel only when the #US decides to do so. https://t.co/nHBG4oqsS1
— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) March 20, 2024
Since October 7, Canada has approved at least $21 million worth of new permits for arms exports to Israel. US arms exports to Israel, on the other hand, have been much higher. Since the start of the war, over 100 arms sales to Israel have been approved, among them $106 million worth of tank munitions and $147.5 million worth of shell components.
The UN has repeatedly warned in recent months that states exporting arms or military goods to Israel are at high risk of being complicit in war crimes. Several countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, and Belgium, have taken similar steps.
