Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre reaffirmed his stance on Tuesday, advocating for Israel to preemptively strike Iran's nuclear facilities and describing such an action as “a gift by the Jewish state to humanity”, Global News reported. Poilievre initially expressed this view on Monday at an event in Ottawa commemorating the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Asked on Tuesday about US President Joe Biden’s opposition to Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to Iran’s missile attack on Israel, Poilievre stopped short of directly disagreeing with Biden’s concerns but reiterated his stance. “I think the idea of allowing a genocidal, theocratic, unstable dictatorship that is desperate to avoid being overthrown by its own people to develop nuclear weapons is about the most dangerous and irresponsible thing that the world could ever allow,” Poilievre said, according to Global News . “If Israel were to stop that genocidal, theocratic, unstable government from acquiring nuclear weapons, it would be a gift by the Jewish state to humanity,” he added. Poilievre has consistently taken a hardline position on Iran, blaming it for the Hamas attack on Israel and the broader violence in the region. During his speech on Monday, which followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s address, Poilievre called on Canada to back Israel’s right to defend itself, which he said includes “proactively striking Iranian nuclear sites and oil installations to defund the terrorist regime.” “Israel must be able to prevent Iran from using nuclear weapons, if necessary,” Poilievre stated. In response to Iran’s missile attack on October 2, Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly expressed their goal of preventing a wider war between Israel and Iran. Former President Donald Trump responded to Biden’s comment and stated that he believes Israel should strike Iran's nuclear facilities, while criticizing the current President for opposing such strikes. Related articles: Survey reveals alarming antisemitism in British Columbia Toronto man charged with 29 offenses, including hate crimes Winnipeg man charged with terror after antisemitic graffiti spree New Canadian PM condemns Gaza electricity cutoff Speaking to voters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump said, “I listened to Biden yesterday … they asked him, what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran and he goes ‘as long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.' That's the thing you want to hit, right?" “I think he’s got that one wrong, isn’t that the one you’re supposed to hit,” he added. “It’s the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons.”
