Israel seeks to import Canadian armored vehicles | Middle East, the eternal conflict

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Israel wants to import light armored vehicles from the Roshel factory in Mississauga, Ontario.

• Louis Blouin (View profile)Louis Blouin

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Radio-Canada has learned that Ottawa is voluntarily leaving pending a request to export armored vehicles manufactured in Canada, intended for the Israeli government. At the same time, the Trudeau government is under intense pressure to stop exporting military equipment to Israel.

Shortly after the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas, a highly sensitive request made its way to Foreign Minister Mélanie's office Joly.

The Israeli government wants to import around thirty light armored vehicles from the Ontario manufacturer Roshel, whose CEO, Roman Shimonov, is originally from Israel, where he served in the army.

For the transaction to go through, Ottawa must grant the necessary export licenses. The request has remained pending since. According to our information obtained from two sources, the Canadian government is deliberately letting the processing of the file drag on given the extremely delicate political context surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict.

If the federal government authorizes this transaction, it risks attracting the wrath of pro-Palestinian groups and being accused of complicity in the operations of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, while civilian deaths accumulate among the Palestinians.

Middle East, the eternal conflict

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For weeks, the New Democratic Party (NDP) has been calling for a ban on exports of military equipment to Israel due to the brutal assault […] of the Netanyahu government against the people of Gaza.

The minister has an obligation under the Arms Trade Treaty not to approve export permits for military equipment and technology when there is a substantial risk of human rights violations, MP said New Democrat Heather McPherson on February 12.

A coalition of Canadian lawyers and citizens of Palestinian origin also filed an action in Federal Court to force the Trudeau government to suspend all its exports military to Israel.

For its part, Canada claims to have only authorized the export of “non-lethal” military equipment to Israel since the start of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, the federal government does not provide a detailed list of equipment supplied to Israel.

More details to come.

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