Still 'standing with' Israel?: Canadian foreign policy and the legacy of Stephen Harper.

Abstract

When Stephen Harper became the first Canadian prime minister to speak in the Knesset, he declared unwavering loyalty to Israel. Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau, Harper's successor, echoed this sentiment. Following the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, Israel's responses in Gaza have been deemed by the International Court of Justice to be "plausible genocide." How far does Canada's position of standing with Israel go, and does it include genocide? This article offers a close analysis of the Harper years (2006-2015) to demonstrate the significance of this period in cementing Canada's close relationship to Israel, and explores how the Trudeau Liberals sustained certain dimensions of that relationship. The article argues that during the Harper government, Canada's foreign policy towards Israel and Canada's domestic policy became increasingly intertwined. Based on analysis of policy, document, and media accounts, the article addresses: (i) the interface with Israel in foreign policy and in the United Nations; (ii) a pattern of what we term the "Israelization" of Canadian domestic politics; and (iii) the continuities since Justin Trudeau's election in 2015, which appeared in sharpened relief between 2023 and Trudeau's resignation in 2025.