OTTAWA—Canada is not willing to follow Norway, Ireland and Spain in immediately recognizing Palestinian statehood, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated Wednesday.
But Trudeau also emphasized his government’s recent shift in position — that it is willing to do so at some future point even in the absence of a negotiated “two-state” solution to the long-standing Israel-Palestine conflict.
For now, however, he is clearly not ready to take the next step as three European countries did in co-ordinated fashion, announcing they would formally recognize a “state” of Palestine on May 28. Norway, Ireland and Spain claimed it would give impetus to peace in the region, a position that a top U.S. official said defied “logic.”
Neither Trudeau nor Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly echoed that U.S. criticism, or directly commented on the move. But when the NDP demanded Canada follow their lead, the prime minister underscored the urgent need for “a credible path towards lasting peace.”
“We oppose efforts by the Netanyahu government to reject a two-state solution. At the same time Hamas, a terrorist group, currently controls areas in Gaza and has not laid down its arms or released its hostages,” he said.
“We are prepared to recognize the state of Palestine at the right time, not necessarily as the last step along the path.”
The U.S. took a more skeptical view, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly rejecting the notion that “unilateral recognition” of statehood would contribute to a sustainable ceasefire or lasting peace in the region. “I’ve not seen how that logic actually plays out,” Sullivan told reporters at a Washington briefing.
“What I can tell you is we believe the only way that you’re going to achieve a two-state solution that delivers for both Israelis and Palestinians is through direct negotiations between the parties.”
In the face of a Netanyahu government that has rejected any talk of a negotiated two-state solution before it crushes Hamas, the militant group that launched the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Canada and other allies have struggled to calibrate their responses.
The brutal war has exacted a steep toll: more than 1,200 Israelis dead in the Oct. 7 attack and about 130 of some 240 hostages still held by Hamas, and nearly 35,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities.
Canada’s position has evolved continually in the months since the war began.
On Tuesday, Trudeau criticized an International Criminal Court prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders as well as Netanyahu and his defence minister. The prosecution seeks to indict the Israeli leaders for allegedly directing attacks against a civilian population and using starvation as a weapon of war.
“What I will say is troubling now is the sense of an equivalency between the democratically elected leaders of Israel, and the bloodthirsty terrorists that lead up Hamas,” Trudeau said in Philadelphia. “I don’t think that’s helpful.”
Yet Trudeau has also taken a harder line on Israel, restoring funding to UNRWA, an aid agency Israel condemns as employing Hamas terrorists in its ranks, and two weeks ago shifting off Canada’s long-held position at the United Nations on recognition of Palestinian statehood. Although Canada abstained from a vote supported by 143 other countries to upgrade Palestine’s status at the world body, Trudeau said that Canada is prepared to recognize a Palestinian state when such a move is ” most conducive to lasting peace.”
But the federal Liberal caucus remains divided over how Canada should approach the recognition of a Palestinian state.
In an interview with the Star, Winnipeg MP Ben Carr said he saw “prudence” in how Trudeau has responded.
“There does have to be, I think, a recognition of the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu serves as an obstacle to peace in the region … by virtue of the fact that he is not willing to support a two-state solution,” Carr said.
“So that does force governments around the world to say, well, wait a minute, if this person is not willing to accept that this is a pathway to peace and therefore removes the idea of statehood off the table, then we have to be open to figuring out what the future looks like.”
Liberal MP Salma Zahid said she thinks the Trudeau government should act more quickly to recognize Palestinian statehood, telling reporters, “I’m working on it.”
“We need to make sure that there’s long lasting peace in that region and for that, the recognition of Palestinian state is really very important.”
MP Anthony Housefather, said it is “not the time” to recognize Palestinian statehood. “To me, while Hamas is in power in Gaza, while there’s still hostages in tunnels under Gaza, this is absolutely not the time to do that. In the future, the absolute goal is to have two states living side by side in peace and security with each other but you can’t do that while a terrorist organization is in place.”
Steven Guilbeault said the question of recognizing statehood is a “difficult” and “delicate” file, and is “the subject of a lot of discussion obviously in cabinet, but also between Canada and several of our partners so, I’d say, to be continued.”
McPherson said there is no reason for Canada not to have recognized a state of Palestine already, calling the stance “absurd.”
“The idea that this will make the Israeli government less likely to co-operate … how much less co-operative could they be?” she said.
Asked if the New Democrats believe recognition of Palestinian statehood should be contingent on the release of the Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7, McPherson asserted those are separate issues. “The hostages need to be returned, but these are two separate things,” she said. “You don’t get to conflate them to say that one can’t happen until the other … I don’t accept that argument.”
