Despite the federal government’s claims that its embassy in Israel was “operational,” a new report confirms it was, in fact, closed as Canadians sought help during and after Hamas’ latest attacks.
The attacks began Saturday on the Thanksgiving weekend, outside of normal business hours. Many Canadians turned to emailing Global Affairs Canada after being unable to visit or reach officials at the embassy in Tel Aviv.
“Since the beginning of this crisis, Canadian officials have been working around the clock to support Canadians,” Global Affairs Canada insisted in a statement. “The missions in Tel Aviv and Ramallah remained operational through the weekend and will continue to be. Our missions will open on Monday October 9th, unless security conditions do not allow for it. We will be assessing the security situation daily, in coordination with our allies.”
The term “operational” was then used and repeated by many government officials to comfort those concerned for loved ones abroad.
Journalist Matt Gurney of The Line suspected the government was playing semantic games, so pressed for further clarification but did not receive a response.
“To be frank, ‘operational’ vs. ‘open’ reads like crisis comms spin. I request more details to understand better what these terms actually mean,” Gurney said.
The GAC responded shortly thereafter saying, “Hello Matt, Your request for clarification is noted. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
No further response was given, despite a followup email from Gurney.
A briefing was held for parliamentarians by the GAC on Wednesday afternoon via Zoom. One parliamentarian asked a similar question regarding the distinction between “operational” and “open.”
The briefing was non-public, however multiple parliamentarians who attended confirmed to The Line that the government’s response to this question was that citizens were helped by officials in Canada through an emergency operations centre in Ottawa – not via the embassy in Tel Aviv or the diplomatic mission in Ramallah, which did not open until Monday.
In other words, the embassy was closed and not even “operational” over the weekend.
