Jews guess how new Canadian Prime Minister views Israel

Mark Carney, Canada’s new prime minister — who won more than 85% of the Liberal party votes to succeed Justin Trudeau — has been relatively quiet about Israel and antisemitism in Canada, Jewish leaders told JNS.

“He’s made it his business to say nothing,” the Canadian-Israeli lawyer Vivian Bercovici, who was Canada’s ambassador to Israel from 2014 to 2016, told JNS.

Bercovici has asked Carney “on many occasions” on social media to speak out about the “complete lack of law enforcement with respect to the pro-Hamas demonstrations, particularly those in Jewish neighborhoods” but hasn’t received a response back, she said, adding that his silence “left us with a vacuum.”

Trudeau, who has drawn extensive criticism from the right for not being vocal enough about Jew-hatred but whom supporters say has a strong track record on Jewish issues, stepped down from office on Jan. 6. The next federal election is due no later than Oct. 20, but it could be called earlier.

Bercovici thinks that there is “no reason to surmise” that Carney will take “a different view of anything” than Trudeau did. “If he did, it’s difficult to understand why he wouldn’t have said something,” she said.

Avi Benlolo, founding chair and CEO of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, told JNS that “the Jewish community is on a wait-and-see mode with Mr. Carney.”

“The Liberals have a long road ahead when it comes to proving they see Israel as an ally and want to defeat antisemitism,” he said. “We encourage Mr. Carney to make this a top priority not just for Canadian Jews, but to save Canada itself.”

Last month, Carney condemned an antisemitic attack on a Montreal synagogue, calling it “reprehensible vandalism” that continues the targeting of Jewish Canadians. “It has to stop,” he said. “As Canadian leaders, we need to say firmly and loudly that the Jewish community has the right to feel safe in Canada.”

“I continue to extend my full support to the Jewish community as we work to combat hate and ensure the perpetrators of these heinous acts are brought to justice,” he wrote.

Warren Kinsella, a Toronto Sun columnist and one of the most prominent, pro-Israel, non-Jewish writers in the country, wrote last month that “it’s no surprise that Carney’s been AWOL on the Israel-Hamas war.”

“Carney has aped his mentor, and observed a total media blackout on — all sides would agree — an issue that has become an important litmus test for one’s morality,” Kinsella wrote.

“He has embraced silence when, as the saying goes, silence equals complicity.” Kinsella added that Carney hasn’t said a word about the hostages, whom Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7.

Jeremy Levi, the Jewish mayor of Hampstead, in the Montreal area, wrote on Jan. 14 that Carney had not mentioned the words “Israel” or “antisemitism” on his X page. Since Jan. 27, Carney has posted three times about antisemitism, but still hasn’t mentioned Israel.

“Silence speaks volumes, and his silence is deafening,” Levi wrote on Instagram. “Leadership demands courage, and on this front, he has shown none.”

One of the few times that Carney commented on social media about the Middle East was a Feb. 5 post, in which he wrote that “President Trump’s proposed forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza is deeply disturbing.”

“It would violate the rights of Palestinians and international law, and it would set back efforts to promote peace and security for all in the region,” he wrote. “I support the hard work of reaching a two-state solution, with a viable and free Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the state of Israel.”

Carney, who turned 60 on March 16, grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, and has made a career out of finance and public service. The Harvard University alumnus earned both a master’s and a doctorate in economics from University of Oxford. He worked at Goldman Sachs in New York City, London and Tokyo. 

In 2003, he moved to the public sector, as deputy governor of the Bank of Canada. He was the Canadian senior associate deputy minister of finance from 2004 to 2007.

In 2007, Carney was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada, a position he held until 2013. During his tenure, he played a role in navigating Canada through the 2008 global financial crisis. (He also visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in that capacity in 2012.)

Carney became the first non-British governor of the Bank of England in 2013, leading the institution through Brexit and the early stages of Covid-19 pandemic. His tenure at the bank lasted until 2020. He has subsequently taken on other roles, including chair and head of impact investing at Brookfield Asset Management and board chair at Bloomberg. He also served as the United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance from 2020 to 2025.