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Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan makes history as first Sephardi woman to join federal cabinet
Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan is Canada’s new minister of official languages and associate minister of public safety, following a Dec. 20 cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The 44-year-old lawyer was first elected in a 2019 byelection to fill the seat vacated by Thomas Mulcair, who represented Outremont for more than a decade, including as the leader of the federal NDP. Bendayan was twice re-elected in the riding, which has seen the NDP’s popularity rise over the last year. The seat is now considered a toss-up between the NDP and Liberals, according to 338 Canada poll projections.
Canada’s first Sephardi woman appointed to cabinet is also the former parliamentary secretary to former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, who stunned the nation by resigning last week.
She is a strong advocate for federal gun control measures and has a background in international trade law. She is one of two new cabinet members from Quebec, alongside Minister of National Revenue Élisabeth Brière, who represents Sherbrooke.
After her swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Bendayan spoke about the third shooting of a Toronto Jewish school just hours earlier and Wednesday’s firebombing of Beth Tikvah synagogue in Montreal. She also noted Jewish schools in her own riding were shot at “not once, twice, but three times” since October 2023.
She used the opportunity to reveal a new federal summit on antisemitism, which The CJN reported on Dec. 20.
“I think everybody is aware that hate-motivated crime in particular is on the rise since 2019, police reporting that hate crimes have more than doubled, that there is a significant increase in hate crimes committed against the Muslim community, and, strikingly, antisemitic hate crimes have almost tripled in that same time period.
“As a result, and in order to ensure that we stem this violence, I’ll be convening along with the minister of justice, our counterparts provincially and territorially, also municipally as well as police authorities,” she said, announcing a national forum on combatting antisemitism. “We are going to be working all together in order to address this heinous and intolerable rise in hate crimes in Canada.”
Reactions range from silence to skepticism
When asked by The CJN, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée de Québec had no comment about Bendayan’s appointment.
The president of the Canadian Sephardi Federation, Avraham Elarar, told The CJN that Bendayan’s appointment is “not a bad thing for the community, but I wish she had done more for the community at large, regardless of whether she is Sephardi, but as a member of the Liberal Party…. I like her, but where was she? Unfortunately, I didn’t see her much during the tumultuous 14 months that we have just gone through.”
(Bendayan was absent from Parliament for about six months following a debilitating concussion in January 2024.)
Nevertheless, Elarar told The CJN, the move can seem “a desperate attempt by Justin Trudeau to cater to the Jewish community. Canada has had similar experiences as democracies like France and Britain, where every time a leader proclaims itself against Israel in any way, it becomes open season on Jews in their countries. Unfortunately, Trudeau fell into the same trap…. Antisemitic acts in Canada are some of the most virulent we’ve seen in Western countries,” he says.
“It takes courage, of course, and just because Bendayan is a Jewish MP does not mean it was her burden alone to fight antisemitism, but the ethical obligations as a human, as a Canadian regardless of affiliation, should have enticed her.”
In the hot seat in Quebec
For her part, Bendayan fended off questions about Trudeau’s future and election talk, stressing the importance of looking at political crises in Germany, France and instability across the world, including in the United States, where Donald Trump will be sworn in as president in January. She noted, “It is important for us to be a stable country here in Canada. It is important for us to defend Canadian interests. I don’t intend to waste any time on partisan politics.”
Indeed, Bendayan got her first taste of the delicate ministerial portfolio she now commands, when asked the question posed by Quebec journalists to every politician working on any language file, if “French in Quebec is in decline, yes or no?”
“Quebec has a very important role,” she replied. “It is the province that must first and foremost be francophone in order to ensure that the linguistic duality that we have here in Canada is protected and maintained.”
Pressed again for a “yes or no” answer, Bendayan replied, “I think my role as minister of official languages is to make sure that we maintain bilingualism, to make sure that the English-speaking minority in Quebec is protected and that the French-speaking minority outside Quebec is protected, so that bilingualism is protected everywhere across the country and that we maintain the linguistic duality that we have and that we are so proud of.”
She was immediately pilloried by nationalists and language hawks before she backtracked, telling reporters shortly after that it’s “true that French is in decline in Quebec.” Quebec’s French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge called Bendayan’s initial response irresponsible. “The decline of French in Quebec and Canada is a fact proven by Statistics Canada figures,” he posted on social media. “The new Minister of Official Languages must absolutely recognize this, because it is her responsibility to reverse this decline.”
According to StatsCan, Quebec’s overall population grew 4.1 percent between 2016 and 2021 (to 8,501,833) while the number of those whose mother tongue is French grew by less than 1.2 percent, comprising 74.9 percent of the population. Moreover, the number of Quebecers who most often spoke French at home was outpaced by those speaking English. Nationwide, French was the first official language spoken by more than 7.8 million Canadians in 2021, up from 7.7 million in 2016, a 1.6-percent hike that lagged far behind Canada’s population growth (5.2 percent).
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet and Quebec’s sole NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice also took her to task. Boulerice posted, minutes after her appointment, “When you come to appointing Rachel Bendayan as (minister of) official languages, you’ve reached the bottom of the barrel.”
Outremont is a diverse riding encompassing the borough of Outremont, parts of Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough and Mile End, and is home to the city’s largest Haredi Jewish community, an older Greek community and new immigrants. The riding is majority French-speaking, and about 12 percent Jewish.
Known as a long-time Liberal activist and Trudeau loyalist, Bendayan joins fellow Montreal cabinet members Marc Miller, Mélanie Joly, Steve Guilbeault and Soraya Martinez. As new official languages minister, she succeeds Randy Boissonnault, who resigned from cabinet in November over controversies surrounding his business activities and claims to Indigenous heritage.
Bendayan’s predecessor-turned-pundit, Thomas Mulcair, described her the day before her appointment as a solid lawyer and backbencher. The former NDP leader told CTV, “She’s well respected and, since Oct. 7, the Trudeau-Joly team has been under a lot of criticism from that [Jewish] community. The Liberals are expecting to lose Anthony Housefather’s riding to the Conservatives on the island of Montreal, so she would be a way of sending a positive signal.”
Bendayan “is young, she’s strong, and I like her,” added Elarar. “But an associate minister means nothing. As for language issues, she’s going to have her hands very full…. I’m also realistic to know that this government will not last, and the government that will replace it will continue the tradition of Stephen Harper, who was tremendously supportive of Israel and the Jewish community.”
Housefather has been elected three times in Mount Royal—which was, until recently, one of Canada’s safest Liberal ridings, which previously elected Irwin Cotler, Sheila Finestone and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Housefather has publicly called on Trudeau to resign, saying his remaining in place is a liability for Liberal members of Parliament across the country. While the riding has been inching closer towards the Conservatives, and their candidate, Neil Oberman, over the last year, polling aggregate 338 Canada shows Housefather’s fortunes rising over the last two weeks, amid the turmoil of the Trudeau government and his calls for the leader to step down.
The post Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan makes history as first Sephardi woman to join federal cabinet appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Hamas Confirms Death of Terror Chief Mohammed Deif Months After Israeli Strike
Picture said to show leader of Hamas’s military wing, known as Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Deif in a location given as Gaza Strip in this handout picture released on Jan. 7, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas officially confirmed on Thursday that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed during the Gaza war, almost six months after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported his death.
Deif, the architect of Hamas’s military capabilities, is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the terrorist group’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — which sparked the Gaza war.
Abu Ubaida, a Hamas spokesperson, also reported the deaths of Deif’s deputy, Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa Salama, as well as senior operatives Marwan Issa, Ghazi Abu Tama’a, Raad Thabet, Ahmed Ghandour, and Ayman Nofal.
According to the IDF, Deif was killed in an airstrike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on July 13 of last year.
Following weeks of intelligence assessments, Israeli authorities gathered evidence to confirm Deif’s death before publicly announcing it in early August.
“IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and … it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said. “His elimination serves the objectives of the war and demonstrates Israel’s ability to carry out targeted strikes with precision.”
At the time, Hamas neither confirmed nor denied Deif’s death, but one official, Ezzat Rashaq, stated that any announcements regarding the deaths of its leaders would be made solely by the organization.
“Unless either of them [the Hamas political and military leadership] announces it, no news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed,” Rashaq said.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Deif, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Deif is believed to have collaborated closely with the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, managing military operations and coordinating with the group’s top commanders throughout the conflict.
After Deif’s assassination, then-defense minister Gallant posted an image on social media praising the Israeli military’s accomplishment.
“The assassination of mass murderer Mohammed Deif — ‘Gaza’s Bin Laden’ — is a major step toward dismantling Hamas as a military and governing entity, and achieving the war’s objectives,” he said.
The post Hamas Confirms Death of Terror Chief Mohammed Deif Months After Israeli Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘A Bad but Necessary Deal’: Five Members of His Family Were Murdered — Today, Their Killer Walks Free
Oran Almog, right, addressing the UN Security Council next to Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on July 25, 2017. Photo: Screenshot
While the release of three Israeli hostages on Thursday brought relief and elation across Israel, it also triggered a wave of mixed emotions, especially among victims who saw the terrorists responsible for their suffering set free. One of them is Oran Almog, who was just ten years old when a Palestinian terrorist disguised as a pregnant woman blew up the restaurant he was in, killing five members of his family and leaving him blind.
Yet, while Thursday’s release of Sami Jaradat — the mastermind behind the October 2003 massacre of Almog’s family — was a deeply personal blow, the return of hostages remained a necessary step, he said.
“That the terrorist who killed my family will find himself free is deeply painful, heartbreaking even,” he told The Algemeiner. “But at the same time, I know that even today — especially today — I must set aside my personal pain and focus on the significance of this deal. And the significance is clear. We are getting our hostages home, and that is the only thing that matters.”
Almog’s father, Moshe Almog, his younger brother, Tomer, his grandparents Admiral (res.) Ze’ev and Ruth Almog, and his cousin, Asaf, were murdered when the suicide bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old lawyer from Jenin, managed to get past the security guard of the Maxim restaurant — jointly owned by a Jewish Israeli and an Arab Israeli — and blow herself up. Sixteen other people were also murdered in the attack, among them four children. Almog lost his eyesight, and his mother, sister, and aunt were among the 60 injured Israelis.
“Sami Jaradat’s continued imprisonment will never bring my family back, but his release can bring the hostages back home alive,” Almog explained.
Emotional meeting between Agam Berger and her family at Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Photo: Haim Zach (GPO)
Almog knows firsthand what it means to be on the receiving end of a hostage-prisoner exchange.
Just two weeks after marking the 20th anniversary of the Maxim restaurant attack, another tragedy struck his family. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists brutally murdered Nadav and Yam and abducted Chen, Agam, Gal, and Tal from the Almog-Goldstein family in Kfar Azza.
Fifty-one days later, in November 2023, they were released from Hamas captivity in a temporary ceasefire deal.
Under the current ceasefire agreement reached earlier this month, Hamas will release a total 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, according to the terrorist group. In exchange, Israel will free over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were serving multiple life sentences on terrorism offenses. Thursday saw the release of three Israelis — including IDF surveillance soldier Agam Berger, 20, and civilians Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Mozes, 80 — and five Thai nationals, who were working in Israeli kibbutzim when they were abducted.
“This is a bad deal, very bad, but the alternative is that much worse,” Almog said. “We must look ahead, put today aside, and recognize that releasing prisoners serves a greater purpose.”
However, Almog expressed hope that Israel would move toward a more decisive and uncompromising approach in its fight against terrorism.
“I sincerely hope that as a country, we will have the wisdom to decisively thwart terrorism,” he said, emphasizing the need to break free from the ongoing cycle of prisoner exchanges.
“I don’t want us to find ourselves trapped in a cycle of releasing terrorists, only for them to return to terror, and then repeat the process again and again,” he added.
Almog has previously addressed the UN Security Council, urging action against the so-called “pay-for-slay” scheme, in which terrorists and their families receive monthly stipends from the Palestinian Authority. The terrorist behind the murder of Almog’s family received $3,000 a month while behind bars, making him almost a millionaire by the time of his release.
Still, Almog concluded with a deeply uplifting message for the returning hostages, confident that they would have a chance at a good life, drawing from his own experiences since the terror attack.
Oran Almog. Photo: Facebook
After his release from the hospital, he began a long rehabilitation process, culminating in third place at the World Blind Sailing Championship with Etgarim, a nonprofit founded by disabled veterans and rehabilitation experts, and supported by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ). He was chosen to light a torch at Israel’s Independence Day ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the state and, despite his disability, insisted on enlisting in the IDF, serving in an elite unit. Today, he is a managing partner at a financial technology fund, works with Etgarim, and shares his story globally through lectures.
“I know the hostages will be able to return, to live, and to live well. With enough support — and a great deal of willpower — it is truly possible to rebuild life, even after the deepest catastrophes,” he said.
The post ‘A Bad but Necessary Deal’: Five Members of His Family Were Murdered — Today, Their Killer Walks Free first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Israel Lawmaker Randy Fine Wins Florida GOP Primary, Favorite to Replace Trump Adviser Mike Waltz in Congress
Florida state Sen. Randy Fine. Photo: Reuters
Florida state Sen. Randy Fine emerged victorious on Tuesday in the Republican primary election for the Sunshine State’s 6th Congressional District in the US Congress, making the firebrand conservative the overwhelming favorite to secure the highly-coveted seat to replace now-former Rep. Mike Waltz.
The congressional seat became vacant after Waltz stepped down to become the national security adviser for US President Donald Trump in the White House. Waltz had managed to secure reelection in November with 66 percent of the vote.
Fine, who is Jewish, has established himself as a stalwart ally of Israel. In the year following the Hamas-led slaughter of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 hostages during a cross-border invasion into southern Israel, Fine has spearheaded efforts to uproot antisemitism within the state of Florida.
In August 2024, he chided Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for taking a trip to Ireland, repudiating the country as “antisemitic.”
“I was certainly disappointed to see not only folks go to what is clearly an antisemitic country that supports Muslim terror, but I was also disappointed that the game wasn’t cancelled, which it should have been,” Fine said.
Ireland has been a fierce critic of Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, even joining a legal case brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice accusing the Jewish state of genocide in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The move, which came after the Irish government in May officially recognized a Palestinian state, led Israel to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
In August 2024, Fine launched an investigation into alleged antisemitic and pro-terrorist ideology within instructional materials at Florida public universities. Fine suggested that activist professors were using textbooks that were indoctrinating students with anti-Israel sentiment.
“When we learned that Florida universities were using a factually inaccurate, openly antisemitic textbook, we realized there was a problem that had to be addressed,” Fine said.
Following the New Year’s Day ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in New Orleans, Fine raised eyebrows by repudiating Islam as a “fundamentally broken and dangerous culture.”
“Muslim terror has attacked the United States — again. The blood is on the hands of those who refuse to acknowledge the worldwide #MuslimProblem. It is high time to deal with this fundamentally broken and dangerous culture,” Fine posted on X/Twitter.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US congratulated Fine for his primary victory on Tuesday.
“We are proud to support pro-Israel candidates who help strengthen and expand the US-Israel relationship. Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics,” AIPAC, which endorsed Fine, posted on social media.
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), an organization that attempts to forge closer ties between the Jewish community and the Republican Party, touted Fine’s vigorous crusade against antisemitism within the Florida state legislature.
“Randy Fine is a warrior for his constituents and has served for years in the Florida legislature with distinction,” RJC wrote on X/Twitter. “Randy Fine will be a fierce advocate for the Jewish community in the House of Representatives. Importantly, he has led the fight and been the loudest voice against the rise of antisemitism in Florida and across the country.”
The post Pro-Israel Lawmaker Randy Fine Wins Florida GOP Primary, Favorite to Replace Trump Adviser Mike Waltz in Congress first appeared on Algemeiner.com.