Jewish outrage at RCMP war-crimes probe of Canadian IDF soldiers

Ottawa Citizen

09-06-2025

The RCMP's 'structural investigation' into whether Canadian citizens serving with the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza may have committed war crimes has sparked outrage in the Jewish community and its leaders, who accuse Ottawa of political targeting.
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'It's funny how law enforcement in our cities have watched tens of thousands of people illegally protest and harass Jews while the RCMP tells us they want to play global cop and pour resources into finding bogeyman crimes,' said Toronto-based Israel Ellis, whose son Eitan is an Israeli soldier guarding a humanitarian corridor in Gaza.
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After a flurry of media reports, the RCMP said in a statement on June 4 that it began investigating in early 2024 whether Canadian citizens were in contravention of this country's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
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The force said it wasn't a criminal investigation, but to 'collect, preserve and assess information' that included 'open-source material and voluntary submissions.' The data may be used in the future, if it meets the legal threshold for prosecution.
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The RCMP statement did not specify any group, entity, or army by name — such as Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Abu Shabab, PFLP, Muslim Brotherhood, or others, who are fighting in the conflict in and around Israel. But multiple Jewish groups contacted by the National Post said the announcement seemed politically targeted at Canadians who have fought for the IDF.
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Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Israel-based Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, said the Mounties have made an 'unprecedented decision.'
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'No other Western democracy is criminally investigating its citizens for fighting alongside an ally, let alone one defending itself from a genocidal terror organization,' she wrote in a statement.
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The Canadian government 'should focus its pressure on Hamas — the party that initiated this war,' she said, adding her organization will provide 'legal defence and advocacy for those targeted by politically driven investigations.'
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Hillel Neuer, the Montreal-born executive director of UN Watch, said the investigation is 'nothing less than a moral inversion. It turns Canadian values upside down.'
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Neuer said that 'for good reason, Ottawa has never prosecuted dual citizens who served with British, French or American forces in fighting ISIS and al-Qaida.' He called it 'unconscionable' that the federal Liberals 'were even contemplating the prosecution of Canadians who fought in defence of civilians against a genocidal terrorist group.'