{"id":36284,"date":"2021-02-12T03:39:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T11:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=36284"},"modified":"2021-02-11T14:58:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T22:58:51","slug":"what-constitutes-recruiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/02\/12\/what-constitutes-recruiting\/","title":{"rendered":"What constitutes recruiting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Galit Baram, consul general of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada, says the allegations of recruiting are unfounded. (Consul office photograph)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Last October, a coalition of foreign policy and Palestinian solidarity organizations delivered a formal complaint to David Lametti, justice minister and attorney general of Canada, alleging that Canadians are being recruited for the Israel Defence Forces. Accompanied by an open letter signed by more than 170 supporters, the complaint seeks an investigation into the actions of Israeli diplomats and consular officials, among others.<\/p>\n

Under Canada\u2019s Foreign Enlistment Act, it is illegal for foreign militaries to recruit Canadians in Canada. In 2017, at least 230 Canadians were serving in the IDF, according to the army\u2019s statistics. The coalition, composed of Just Peace Advocates, Palestinian and Jewish Unity, and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, alleges that Israeli consular officials have invited Canadians to speak with IDF recruiting officers at the consulate and have sent IDF soldiers to speak at Canadian high schools. In a written statement to the Canadian Jewish Record<\/em>, which was cited in an Oct. 28 article online, Galit Baram, consul general of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada, said, \u201cAny allegations against Israel in this matter are unfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint drew some attention. Montreal-based newspaper Le Devoir<\/em> reported on it in a front-page article on Oct. 19, under the headline \u201cIsrael criticized for recruiting on Canadian soil.\u201d The article pointed to a recruiting invitation posted on the website of the Israeli consulate in Toronto in November 2019. \u201cAn IDF representative will conduct personal interviews at the consulate. Young people who wish to enlist in the IDF or anyone who has not fulfilled their obligations according to the Israeli Defence Service Law are invited to meet with him,\u201d read the post, which included contact information to schedule appointments. Further investigations by Le Devoir<\/em> yielded similar recruiting invitations from 2014 and 2018.<\/p>\n

Baram said the invitations were directed only to Israelis. \u201cIn Israel, the law requires compulsory service,\u201d she stated. \u201cEvery Israeli, male or female, must serve in the Israel Defence Forces. Israeli citizens living abroad are obligated to settle their status with the Israeli authorities.\u201d According to the Foreign Enlistment Act, foreign representatives can recruit their own citizens in Canada, so long as the recruits are not also Canadian.<\/p>\n

Baram acknowledged that recruiting officers may be sent to large Israeli communities to conduct interviews, citing Toronto as an example. According to the 2016 Census, however, roughly four out of five Israelis in Toronto are dual citizens, and approximately 3,125 Israelis in Toronto are not Canadian. When invited to clarify to which group the invitations were sent, the consulate declined.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
John Philpot, a Montreal-based lawyer, is spokesperson for a coalition claiming that Canadians are being recruited for the Israel Defence Forces. (photo from english.khamenei.ir<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The coalition\u2019s concerns extend beyond Israeli or dual citizens, however. \u201cAny suggestion that all Israel does is recruit their own citizens who have to do their military duty is complete nonsense,\u201d said John Philpot, a Montreal-based criminal-defence lawyer and coalition spokesperson. The Devoir<\/em> article reported on a visit by an IDF colonel to a Toronto denominational school \u201cto talk about his experiences as a new recruit and as a senior commander.\u201d On the same day the complaint was filed, The Canada Files<\/em> published an article by Yves Engler, a Montreal-based writer and signatory to the letter, documenting what Engler considers to be extensive promotion of the IDF in Toronto Jewish day schools.<\/p>\n

As one example, he pointed to a talk by Seth Frieberg, an IDF \u201clone soldier,\u201d in January 2020 at TanenbaumCHAT, a Toronto Jewish high school and Frieberg\u2019s alma mater. Lone soldiers are foreign recruits to the military without immediate family in Israel. Frieberg joined the Israeli army in 2013 and served 14 months as a paratrooper. In an interview last October, he credited his time at the Eretz Hatzvi Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he spent a year after high school, for partly driving his decision to enlist. His teachers spoke highly about Eretz Yisrael<\/em>, the biblical land of Israel, and the importance of living there. He said he felt a greater connection to Israeli Jews, to the country, and was drawn to and admired the soldiers. He returned to Canada to complete an undergraduate degree at Western University and joined the IDF the following year.<\/p>\n

The roots of his idea, however, began before his gap year. He was also motivated by a family history with the Holocaust and a course at TanenbaumCHAT. Two of his grandparents were Holocaust survivors, one of whom, his grandmother, was active in Holocaust education. \u201cShe\u2019d always talk about that, so I think I had this idea in my mind about the horrors of the Holocaust,\u201d he said. In his Grade 12 history course, a connection was made between the Holocaust and Israel: he took from it the idea that \u201chad Israel been there during the time of the Holocaust, [it] probably wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d In this and other ways, Frieberg said, he relies on Israel. \u201cIn the worst sense … if anything bad happened to Jews or myself in Canada, I always have Israel to go to.\u201d He reasoned he should do something for Israel in return: \u201cAnd that could be charity, volunteer, or going to the army.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of TanenbaumCHAT\u2019s IDF Day, the annual event at which Frieberg spoke, students wear olive-green IDF T-shirts, matching clothing, and sell baked goods with green icing to raise money for the military. By Frieberg\u2019s estimates, he spoke to 80 students about his experience in the IDF, including patrolling the Lebanese border and West Bank, searching for three kidnapped youth, and operations in Gaza. Did his talk inspire others? He said, \u201cYou\u2019d have to ask them…. I was just there to tell them my story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s events were organized under the leadership of Israelis and former IDF soldiers Ariel and Lee Kestecher Solomon. Ariel, the school\u2019s Israel engagement shaliach<\/em>, or emissary, was a commander in the IDF and volunteers with the Jewish Agency for Israel. According to the agency\u2019s website, Israeli emissaries are sent to Jewish communities abroad for two to three years \u201cto strengthen and deepen the mutual connection between Israel and members of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his Canada Files<\/i>\u00a0article, Engler characterizes these activities \u2013 IDF Day, talks by lone soldiers, fundraising for the military, and former soldiers with extended placements in Jewish day schools \u2013 as enticement to join the IDF. When invited to comment, Renee Cohen, TanenbaumCHAT’s\u00a0principal, did not respond to multiple requests.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Kolby Hanson, post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island, co-wrote a study of 25 countries that recruit non-citizens. (photo from kolbyhanson.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why countries like Israel might recruit foreign citizens is a puzzle that caught the attention of Kolby Hanson, post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island. In a 2019 paper for Security Studies<\/em>, he and co-author Erik Lin-Greenberg categorized the 25 countries that recruit non-citizens into three distinct groups. In an interview in October 2020, Hanson explained that countries either recruit for specific expertise or for sheer numbers to fill ranks, or, like Israel, \u201cwithin narrow ethnic or commonwealth networks that are more symbolic programs.\u201d As with India, Israel \u201c[uses] the rules around their recruitment to make some statement about who they are and what the nation\u2019s identity is.\u201d Israel recruits foreign Jews for its military to assert its identity as a Jewish state and to establish deeper ties to Jewish communities abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone might grow up and say, \u2018My cousin served in the IDF and that makes me feel like I\u2019m really connected to Israel,\u2019 or whether you know someone who came back after serving in the IDF,\u201d said Hanson. Countries that recruit for symbolic reasons tend to have other programs, like expedited citizenship (as Israel has for Jews), to reinforce these ties.<\/p>\n

The IDF itself is likely aware of the legal sensitivities around recruitment of Canadians. Hanson described an unusual exchange in an interview with Canadian IDF soldiers: \u201cWhen we used the word \u2018recruitment,\u2019 we had a couple of people get tetchy…. They pounced on it and said, \u2018No, no, it\u2019s not recruitment. The IDF allows people to serve, but they don\u2019t try to get people to.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In Canada, crossing the line into active recruitment is a legal issue. Unfortunately, it is not clear where exactly the line is. The Foreign Enlistment Act does not define recruitment, nor, according to Tyler Wentzell, doctoral student in law at the University of Toronto, is there case law.<\/p>\n

A serving military officer and lawyer by training, Wentzell has published several articles on foreign recruitment and the history of the act. In an October 2020 interview, he said cases have been tried for recruiting for criminal or terrorist organizations, but not for the military of a sovereign state, for which the term would likely be interpreted differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re actually sworn into [a foreign] military in Canada, that definitely crosses the line,\u201d he said, as would undertaking the stages of an intake funnel, including physical fitness and aptitude testing and evaluation. But, at earlier points, like attracting prospects, the line blurs. Is putting a Mountie on promotional material for Canada recruiting for the RCMP, asked Wentzell, or using a national symbol to promote the country? To complicate matters further, recruiting is also \u201ca cultural sense that changes over time,\u201d as with evolving Canadian attitudes towards high school rifle ranges and cadet corps.<\/p>\n

In an October 2020 interview, Petty Officer Gian Barzelotti, a recruiter for the Canadian Armed Forces, described where he draws the line when recruiting in Canadian high schools. To students in Grade 10 or older, he advertises the benefits of joining the military, including a paid co-op program in which students can earn high school credit. With younger students, he emphasized, the CAF does not recruit. \u201cWe do talk about the military and who we are and what we do for Canada,\u201d he said, but not about programs and benefits nor intake. \u201cYou\u2019re not saying, \u2018Go down this path and you\u2019ll end up being in the military.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Tzofim Garin Tzabar, however, does just that. A branch of the Israeli Scouts that is 70% funded by the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency for Israel, Garin Tzabar describes itself as the \u201cIsraeli lone soldier IDF program.\u201d Its online promotional video advertises an \u201cunbelievable three months of one unforgettable absorption process,\u201d \u201cat least 20 new friends,\u201d \u201ca family for life,\u201d and that 30% of its participants are accepted to the IDF\u2019s officer and commander stream. It also lists an office in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Likewise, in June 2020, Nefesh b\u2019Nefesh, an Israeli absorption organization, advertised a webinar entitled \u201cJoining the IDF\u201d on the website of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. According to the event listing, the webinar featured \u201ceverything you need and want to know about joining the IDF,\u201d including the lone soldier program, the structure of the military, preparatory Hebrew programs, and post-secondary degrees relevant to the IDF. Last year, Nefesh b\u2019Nefesh facilitated the absorption of 390 lone soldiers from North America to Israel. Although the UJA Federation did not endorse the webinar, it did promote it on its website.<\/p>\n

In practice, it seems the Canadian government has never done more than slap an offending party on the wrist. During the Vietnam War, said Wentzell, the U.S. army accidentally placed a recruiting ad in a Canadian magazine. \u201cThere was a great deal of correspondence back and forth saying, \u2018Hey, could you lay off this?… The response was pretty consistently, \u2018Yep, sorry.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The government maintains an interest in keeping Canadians out of foreign militaries and conflicts. Wentzell illustrated this by way of a Canadian who served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war: \u201cWhat happens when Benjamin Dunkelman gets in trouble on the other side of the planet? Do we get him home? Do we owe him anything? These were still live issues.\u201d For the 200-plus Canadians serving in the IDF today, they still are.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Canada said to the Israeli consulate, \u2018Stop all recruiting,\u2019 [and] went to the schools and said, \u2018You cannot have meetings where Israelis invite you to join the army\u2019 … that would be a good step forward,\u201d said Philpot.<\/p>\n

To Philpot and the coalition, these acts are part of a \u201cwhole series of evidence\u201d that point to IDF recruiting, including an event held by Deborah Lyons, Canadian ambassador to Israel. In January 2020, she hosted 33 Canadian IDF lone soldiers at her residence in Jerusalem to thank them for their service. \u201cWe at the embassy are very proud of what you\u2019re doing. It\u2019s really quite incredible,\u201d she said. Philpot said all of this points towards recruitment.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the complaint was filed, Lametti responded to questions in an unrelated press conference. He reiterated that Canadian law applies to foreign diplomats but referred calls for an investigation to the police and the public prosecution service. \u201cI will leave the decision to the institutions we have in Canada to monitor the situation,\u201d he said. In mid-November, the RCMP confirmed it was reviewing and assessing the evidence submitted.<\/p>\n

Kevin Keystone<\/strong> is a Toronto-based freelance writer, editor and researcher. His writing has been published in the <\/em>Literary Review of Canada, the <\/em>Jewish Independent and <\/em>Good Old Boat.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Galit Baram, consul general of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada, says the allegations of recruiting are unfounded. (Consul office photograph) Last October, a coalition of foreign policy and Palestinian solidarity organizations delivered a formal complaint to David Lametti, justice minister and attorney general of Canada, alleging that Canadians are being recruited for the Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3157,8287,1739,4330,1168,20280,20281,2251,20282],"class_list":["post-36284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-canada","tag-galit-baram","tag-idf","tag-israel","tag-israel-defence-forces","tag-john-philpot","tag-kolby-hanson","tag-law","tag-recruiting"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}