Liberal MP-elect Bruce Fanjoy claimed that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel is hateful.
In light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city during his first term, Fanjoy commented on X, then Twitter, that Trump was “throwing another log on the hate fire.”
By 2018, the United States under Trump had moved their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, strengthening its recognition of the holy city as Israel’s capital.
Despite Fanjoy’s assertion that moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would ignite hatred, there was little domestic backlash within Israel and amongst Palestinians to the move.
True North reached out to Fanjoy for comment. While Fanjoy’s communications staffer committed to responding, no response was given.
Israel is among the few countries in the world where its seat of government is largely not recognized by the international community.
Besides the United States, only five countries have their official embassies in Jerusalem — Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay — who all followed in the footsteps of America and Trump. In early 2024, Argentina’s President Javier Milei announced that his country would also move their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Canada, along with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and other liberal democracies do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, instead opting to situate their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Failure to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital stems from a 1967 United Nations resolution that denies recognition of Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem and calls for negotiation between Israel and Palestine to determine the city’s official status.
In 2017, shortly after Trump announced the United States would be moving their embassy, former prime minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed Canada’s long-standing policy of denying recognition of Jerusalem, instead keeping the embassy in Tel Aviv.
Since 2018 under the leadership of Andrew Scheer, the Conservative Party has committed to recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and re-locating Canada’s embassy to Jerusalem.
“The Conservative Party of Canada recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Along with its ancient history as the seat of government, Jerusalem is also now where Israel’s parliament, Supreme Court and official residence of its president (are located),” reads a Conservative Party resolution.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has doubled down on the commitment to moving Canada’s embassy to Jerusalem, repeatedly stating that a Conservative government would follow through on this promise.
Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney has not expressed his opinion on the matter, though he has committed to upholding an arms embargo against Israel.