Toronto and Sydney are strikingly similar cities: liberal, multicultural metropolises with long-established Jewish communities and deep ties to Western democratic values. Yet people of Jewish faith feel safe in neither..Reflecting on Sunday’s deadly attack on Australian Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, former Canadian ambassador to Israel Vivian Bercovici argued that the comparison underscores a disturbing reality: Toronto’s Jewish community receives little meaningful protection from police. “I feel safer where I live in Israel,” she declared.Speaking from her home on an Israeli kibbutz during an interview on The Hannaford Show today, Bercovici described a sustained campaign of intimidation against Toronto Jews, coupled with what she called indifference – or worse – from political leaders and law enforcement..She said Jewish residents are routinely harassed outside synagogues, shops, and even their homes, while police instruct them to stay quiet and “let the protesters pass.” Officers have repeatedly warned Jews that their presence is “provocative” and detained them “for their own safety,” even as activists chant slogans glorifying violence. “They stand there and do nothing,” Bercovici said. “Worse than nothing – they protect the people threatening us.”.Bondi Beach shooting suspects visited Islamist militant hotbed prior to attack.The interview followed the Bondi Beach massacre, where two Islamist attackers killed 15 people targeting Jews in a public space. Host Nigel Hannaford likened its impact on Australians to “a massacre at the foot of the CN Tower,” arguing it shattered any illusion that such violence remains remote from Canada..Bercovici insisted the attack was not isolated but part of a globalized campaign driven by extremist Islamist groups and enabled by Western political complacency. She pointed to years of Toronto protests featuring chants like “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea,” which authorities have often dismissed as peaceful political expression.“There is nothing peaceful about calling for the annihilation of Israel or the murder of Jews,” she said, accusing Canadian leaders – including Prime Minister Mark Carney – of refusing to confront the ideological roots of the violence..ROBSON: Bondi’s 2019 warning should end Canada’s naivete on antisemitic extremism.Both cities have sizable Jewish populations, including many Holocaust survivors and their descendants. Yet Bercovici claimed antisemitic incidents in Toronto now surpass those in Sydney in frequency and intensity. She highlighted repeated demonstrations at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue – a predominantly Jewish area where protesters harass residents, businesses, and families outside their homes, while police focus on restraining Jews rather than intervening against threats.In one post-Bondi incident, she said, an activist used a loudspeaker to chant Arabic lyrics glorifying violence against Jews as officers stood by. “The police were protecting him,” she charged. .Bercovici accused leaders in both Canada and Australia of dodging Islamist extremism, instead deflecting to unrelated issues like gun control or “right-wing extremism.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for example, responded to the shooting by stressing stronger gun laws and clamping down on far-right groups—though the Bondi attackers’ problem was clearly radical Islamism, not firearm availability.While Albanese rightly praised a Muslim hero who intervened during the attack, Bercovici noted his conspicuous absence from Jewish victims’ funerals.Asked directly whether she feels safer in Israel than in Toronto, Bercovici replied without hesitation: “Yes, I feel much safer here. I’m not safe in Toronto.”.Australian police arrest seven men in Sydney over suspected violent plot.As if to add emphasis, even as she was speaking on the Hannaford show (which is pre-recorded) news came in that Australian police had detained seven more men en route to Sydney, suspected of planning violent acts...It's starting to feel like 1938 all over again.
