Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called on the Canadian government to do more to combat antisemitism, after a video was circulated online showing a 32-year-old Jewish man being attacked on a Montreal street in front of his children.
Sa’ar shared the video to his X account and wrote, “The incident shown in this video is shocking and stomach-turning. A Jewish father was beaten in front of his daughter in Montreal, Canada, yesterday.”
“These are images reminiscent of dark periods of Jewish persecution. This is appalling. The Canadian government must do more to fight antisemitism!” he added.
Montreal police have launched an investigation into the incident. Police said that the victim suffered injuries that were not life-threatening after being struck several times.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the incident and said, "The attack on a Jewish father in Montreal late yesterday, in front of his own children, is an appalling act of violence. Everyone in Canada has an inalienable right to live in safety."
"My thoughts are with the victim and his family as they recover, and my support is with law enforcement as they work to bring the perpetrator to justice."
Canada has seen a sharp rise in incidents of antisemitism since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the war in Gaza which followed.
Data released at the end of July by Statistics Canada reveal that hate crimes targeting Canadian Jews remained alarmingly high in 2024, with 920 police-reported incidents—making Jews the most targeted religious group in the country.
Jews were found to be 25 times more likely to be the victims of a hate crime than other Canadian citizens.
The number of overall antisemitism hate crimes was down slightly from their high in 2023, when they reached 959. However, they remain well above the figures for 2022, when 527 antisemitic hate crimes were reported.