(JNS) Israeli President Isaac Herzog held a Zoom call with leaders of the Canadian Jewish community on Sunday following a series of shootings targeting synagogues, Jewish institutions and businesses in the Greater Toronto Area.
Herzog expressed his shock at the attacks, which followed a steep rise in incidents of Jew-hatred in the country since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
Two synagogues in Toronto’s Thornhill and North York neighborhoods were targeted in shootings overnight on March 6. There were no injuries in either incident.
The attacks on the Shaarei Shomayim and Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogues came just days after another North York synagogue was hit by gunfire. In that March 2 attack, several bullet holes were found in the front windows of Temple Emanu‑El.
Herzog reassured those on the call that Israel stands with them. “The Jewish people are all one family—in times of joy and in times of difficulty. We in Israel care for every Jew anywhere in the world.”
In a separate tweet, Herzog said, “From Jerusalem, I send a message of resilience, strength, and solidarity to the Jewish community of Toronto … We stand together and will prevail over all the forces of evil seeking to harm us.”
Herzog also warned in the call that lessons must be learned from the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia. (Australian leaders have been accused of ignoring the warning signs of rising antisemitism leading to the attack.)
In a Zoom call with Canadian Jewish community leaders and rabbis today, I expressed my deep alarm at the recent series of antisemitic attacks in the Toronto area.
While Iranian missiles continue to target our people here in Israel, extremist forces of evil continue to attack our… pic.twitter.com/3NQFCStSP5
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 9, 2026
“All eyes are on Canada to halt this unprecedented wave of Jew-hatred,” said Israel’s president.
Herzog echoed comments from Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister, who warned that Canada was heading down the same dark path as Australia. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney “continues to turn a blind eye to rampant antisemitism in the country,” said Chikli.
Participants in the Zoom call included President and CEO of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto Adam Minsky; Ken Tanenbaum, chair of the Board of Directors of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto; Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA); Elan Pratzer, chair of CIJA; and Yaron Deckel, regional director of the Jewish Agency for Israel in Canada.
The rabbis of the synagogues targeted in the shootings also participated in the meeting.
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