Thanks to reader Wayne.

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By MEE staff
Published date:
13 May 2026

Israel is running a widespread and deeply embedded, covert influence operation in Canada, and the government has refused to treat it as interference by a foreign actor, a new report by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has said.

The group is now calling on Ottawa to designate Israel as a "key threat actor" alongside the likes of China and India, expel Israeli diplomats, and ban Israeli spyware, among other recommendations published on Wednesday.

"The pattern of deception and disinformation outlined in this report demonstrates the malicious role of the Israeli state in interfering in Canadian public affairs, undermining the rights and safety of Canadians," CJPME said.

"This rogue state behaviour has taken place within Canadian borders with a total lack of accountability, and requires immediate intervention by authorities."

While most countries are known to lobby one another in their own interest, Israeli activities cross a line because they are largely undisclosed, the report said.

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Influence operations

The first example is of "secretly" funded polling in the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, "which used biased language to sway results in support of Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza [and] was conducted by Toronto public relations firm Aurora Strategies Global without disclosing that it was on behalf of the Israeli consulate", the report said.

Liberal Party insiders also discussed sharing the results with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office before the poll's publication, the report noted.
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The second example follows the federal court's ruling in 2019 that "Product of Israel" labels on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are "misleading".

The report said that Israel’s Ministry of Justice "secretly" hired a law firm in Toronto to intervene in the legal dispute and had staffers from that firm draft talking points for Canadian officials on the issue.

The objective was to pressure Canada into appealing the ruling and preserving the labelling system favourable to Israel, CJPME said.

The third example pertains to "propaganda junkets" by the Israeli government that "use Canadian entities as proxies" to send politicians and other influential figures on all-expense-paid trips to Israel.

"The lack of transparency around these delegations is a major issue, as the entire purpose... is to build support for Israel and influence Canadian politics," the report said, pointing to unelected Canadians who are not bound by the same disclosure policies as lawmakers.

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