I've been watching Canada deteriorate for years, well before the October 7 massacre in Israel, when Hamas terrorists invaded and slaughtered over 1,200 people, including children, women, and the elderly. Even beyond Israel and the Jewish community, Canada has been on a troubling trajectory: political instability, a weakening economy, soaring cost of living, a dismal job market, unsustainable national debt, and an escalating housing crisis. The alarming rise in antisemitism is just one symptom of a broader national decline, one that Canada's leadership has consistently failed to confront. So while it's not surprising that Canadian Jews are now being told to live with caution and fear, it is no less upsetting.
On Sunday morning, Israel's National Security Council (NSC), the body responsible for issuing alerts about threats to Israelis abroad, raised its travel warning for Canada from Level 1 to Level 2. This update specifically urged Israelis and Jews in Canada to take extra precautions, citing "an increasing threat from terrorist elements against Israelis and Jews in Canada." The warning follows a massive and disturbing surge in antisemitic attacks on Jewish institutions across the country.
In particular, the NSC advised Jews to avoid public displays of Jewish or Israeli identity and to remain especially vigilant during Toronto's annual Walk for Israel. This event draws over 56,000 participants and is recognized as both the largest annual gathering of Toronto's Jewish community and one of the largest Israel solidarity walks in the world. The Walk is a peaceful, family-friendly demonstration of Jewish unity, pride, and resilience, welcoming people of all backgrounds and political beliefs. It is a day meant to celebrate community and belonging.
To be told that Jewish Canadians should conceal their symbols of faith and identity (especially on a day meant to celebrate those very symbols) is a searing indictment of the climate of fear that has taken hold in Canada. It reflects not just a failure to protect a vulnerable minority but a growing normalization of antisemitism that should deeply disturb every Canadian who values freedom, diversity, and civil society. We've witnessed vile, hate-filled rallies unfold across Canadian cities under the banner of "free speech," where masked protesters brandish swastikas and chant slogans like "Globalize the Intifada." And now Canadian Jews are being warned to hide their Stars of David and Israeli flags at their own peaceful community events?
This isn't just about threats. It's about priorities – and who is being protected.
Israel issued the alert after its Ministry for Diaspora Affairs received intelligence that leaders of violent protests in Amsterdam had flown to Canada to participate in anti-Israel demonstrations. And after a recent terror attack in Washington, D.C., where a pro-Palestinian extremist murdered two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, such threats can no longer be dismissed as fringe or speculative. They are deadly, coordinated, and global.
It should not be Israel's burden alone to sound the alarm. The Canadian government has a moral and constitutional responsibility to protect all its citizens, including Jews. It shouldn't take a foreign government to warn Canadian Jews that their safety is at risk.
And yet, in the face of fear and silence, Canadian Jews showed up.
I am proud of the Canadian Jewish community, which refused to cower in the face of these warnings. Despite a lack of meaningful action from the government, more than 56,000 people marched proudly through the streets of Toronto, waving Canadian and Israeli flags in defiance of hate. They came not only to support Israel, but to reaffirm that Jewish life and identity are not to be hidden or ashamed of, but to be celebrated, boldly and in the open.
Because we will never be intimidated into silence or invisibility – not in Canada, and not anywhere.
