![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/sep-26-cov.26.PM-Mark-Carney_office-of-the-PM-photo.jpg\")
<\/a>Carney noted: \u201cSince 1947, it has been the policy of every Canadian government to support a two-state solution for lasting peace in the Middle East.\u201d He said there was an \u201cexpectation that this outcome would be eventually achieved as part of a negotiated settlement,\u201d but \u201cthis possibility has been steadily and gravely eroded\u201d by several factors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to other criticisms of both Hamas and Israel, Carney lists the \u201cpervasive threat of Hamas terrorism to Israel and its people, culminating in the heinous terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023,\u201d and Hamas\u2019s rejection of Israel\u2019s right to exist; \u201caccelerated settlement building across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while settler violence against Palestinians has soared\u201d; \u201cthe E1 Settlement Plan and this year\u2019s vote by the Knesset calling for the annexation of the West Bank\u201d; and the \u201cIsraeli government\u2019s contribution to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, including by impeding access to food and other essential humanitarian supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney said the Palestinian Authority \u201chas provided direct commitments to Canada and the international community on much-needed reforms, including to fundamentally reform its governance, to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.\u201d<\/p>\n In reaction to the prime minister\u2019s Sept. 21 statement, Noah Shack, chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said, \u201cHamas is not an isolated phenomenon. It is a violent manifestation of the rejection of the right of the Jewish people to a state in our ancestral home \u2013 a rejection that runs deep within Palestinian society.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Prime Minister Carney himself has noted, a Palestinian state must be a\u00a0Zionist\u00a0state. Today\u2019s announcement undermines that objective and gives Hamas and other Palestinian rejectionists a sense of victory. This will only make it harder to secure the release of hostages and build a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n Shack acknowledged that, while the \u201cannouncement does not come as a surprise, the details are important. The government has stated that, while it is extending recognition, normalization of relations with a \u2018state of Palestine\u2019 is an ongoing, long-term process\u2026. We will argue that this\u00a0must not proceed\u00a0so long as hostages are in tunnels, Hamas remains in power and the Palestinian leadership rejects Israel\u2019s existence as a Jewish state.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we will continue,\u201d said Shack, \u201cto make it clear that, with anti-Jewish hate escalating, our government must recognize the unintended effect foreign policy has on the climate in our own country.\u201d<\/p>\n B\u2019nai Brith Canada also issued a response to Carney\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe PA has shown, time and again, that it cannot be trusted,\u201d said Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy for B\u2019nai Brith Canada. \u201cIt is unable to govern the Palestinian Territories and has repeatedly demonstrated it is unwilling to deliver on the very commitments upon which Canada\u2019s recognition is supposed to be predicated.<\/p>\n \u201cThe commitments include democratic reform, free and fair elections in 2026 without Hamas, and the full demilitarization of the Palestinian Territories.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of these conditions have been met. Hamas continues to arm itself, hold hostages and carry out terror attacks. Recognition under these circumstances does not bring us any closer to lasting peace, it only further compromises the prospect of a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n Robertson said the \u201cgovernment has chosen appeasement over principle.\u201d<\/p>\n On Sunday, the United Kingdom, Australia and Portugal made similar announcements to that of Canada. Reaction from Israel was critical.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the atrocities of Oct. 7, while Hamas continues its campaign of terror, and while it continues to cruelly hold 48 hostages in the tunnels and dungeons of Gaza, the recognition of a Palestinian state by some nations today is, not surprisingly, cheered by Hamas,\u201d wrote Israel\u2019s President Isaac Herzog in an X post.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will not help one Palestinian, it won\u2019t help free one hostage, and it will not help us reach any settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. It will only embolden the forces of darkness.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a sad day for those who seek true peace,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he will release a formal response after he returns from the United States. However, in a widely reported Hebrew-language video statement, he said, \u201cI have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on Oct. 7 \u2013 you are handing a huge reward to terror.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will not happen,\u201d he added. \u201cA Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan.\u201d<\/p>\n According to various news reports, Hamas did indeed applaud the recognition announcements, as did the Palestinian Authority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Sunday, Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement on Canada\u2019s recognition of Palestine as a state. \u201cRecognizing the state of Palestine, led by the Palestinian Authority, empowers those who seek peaceful coexistence and the end of Hamas,\u201d said Carney. \u201cThis in no way legitimizes terrorism, nor is it any reward for it. Furthermore, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[755,4341,305,458,4361,923,4330,771,23840,23754,2085,927,3597,23513,1774],"class_list":["post-47633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-bnai-brith-canada","tag-binyamin-netanyahu","tag-centre-for-israel-and-jewish-affairs","tag-cija","tag-hamas","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-israel","tag-liberal-party-of-canada","tag-mark-carney","tag-noah-shack","tag-palestine","tag-palestinian-authority","tag-politics","tag-richard-robertson","tag-terrorism"],"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\/47633","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=47633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}