In the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Montreal's Jewish community finds itself grappling with a surge in antisemitism, leading some to consider a move to Israel. Paul Hirschson, Israeli Consul-General in Montreal, paints a stark picture of the situation.
"Members of the community are not happy. They feel threatened and insecure," Hirschson says, "The number of Jews who are considering moving to Israel is on the rise."
The statistics are alarming. Between October 7 and November 14, Montreal police recorded 63 hate crimes and 41 hate incidents targeting the Jewish community. These include serious acts of violence, such as the firebombing of a Jewish community center and synagogue in Dollard-des-Ormeaux and a shooting at Yeshiva Gedola elementary school.
More recent incidents have kept the community on edge. In May, another Jewish school in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough was targeted in a shooting. June saw projectiles fired at a Jewish-owned restaurant in the Mile End neighborhood. Last month, a Jewish tombstone was desecrated with a swastika at the Kehal Israel cemetery.
Hirschson believes the attacks, mostly occurring at night, are designed to terrorize rather than physically harm. "You simply can't turn around and say this is just a threat, we'll ignore it," he says, referring to a recent email threatening to bomb over 100 Jewish sites across Canada.
The consul-general expresses disappointment with the Montreal municipality's response, criticizing what he sees as an overemphasis on moral equivalence. "If antisemitism is on the rise, one must condemn it. We cannot say antisemitism and Islamophobia are bad. This is not an intellectual exercise. It's a reality; people are hurting," Hirschson argues.
On a national level, Hirschson notes a shift in Canada's traditionally strong support for Israel. He points out that Canada was among the first of Israel's allies to support a ceasefire at the United Nations and has recently halted arms sales to Israel.
"Real friendship is measured in difficult times," Hirschson says, reflecting on Canada's response to the October 7 attacks. "You'd really think that at that point, your friends would stand with you. That's when the real test is."
As Montreal's Jewish community faces this challenging period, the specter of a potential exodus looms. For Hirschson and many others, the hope is that any moves to Israel will be driven by positive choice rather than fear. "Personally, I wish for all Jews to move to Israel," he says, "but I don't want them to do so because of rising antisemitism in Canada."
* The Jewish News Syndicate contributed to this article.