North Star with Ellin Bessner Bob Rae argues Canada was right to recognize Palestine statehood and UNRWA at the U.N.
As Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations for the last five years, Bob Rae helped shaped how the international community has responded to the most pressing global human rights issues of our time: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran’s nuclear threats, the collapse of Haiti, genocides against the Rohingyas and the Uyghurs, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, and more. But no issue has been as polarizing as the Israel-Palestine crisis, especially after Oct. 7, 2023—which also marked when Canada’s long-standing support for Israeli government policies began to change.
Canada abstained or voted yes to motions and resolutions that were critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and military campaign against Hamas. Canada called for a ceasefire and condemned, with other nations, Israel’s settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and the Golan. (Canada also did try, early on, to get the U.N. to censure Hamas for its massacre of Israelis, but the motion failed.)
Last fall, at the 80th U.N. General Assembly, Canada unilaterally recognized the State of Palestine—which Rae says he fully supports. He also supports funding UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, where some employees were fired for being linked to the violence of Oct. 7. But while Israel and many Canadian Jews feel the U.N. and its leadership are obsessed with demonizing Israel, the outgoing ambassador disagrees.
Rae’s term as Canada’s envoy to the U.N. started during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and ended in November 2025. Since then, he’s joined two universities and a think tank, and has been a regular commentator in the Canadian media. Rae joins The CJN’s flagship North Star podcast host Ellin Bessner to unpack what’s behind his support for Canada’s tougher stance on Israel—and what that’s cost him.
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- When Bob Rae was a Liberal MP from Toronto, in 2010, he told a Haifa University fundraising event in his honour that co-existence between Israelis and Palestinian is the only way forward, in The CJN.
Credits
- Host and writer:
Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) info@thecjn.ca
- Production team:
Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
- Music:
Bret Higgins (https://www.brethiggins.com/)
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