85 Canadian Jews who served in Israeli military listed on website

Article content

A list of 85 Canadian Jews who served in the Israel Defense Forces, published online by left-wing activist journalism news outlet on Tuesday, is being condemned by the Jewish community and its allies.

Rebecca Garner, 34, was scrolling through social media when she found out she was named in the list — part of a database called “Find IDF Soldiers.” An article, entitled “Meet 85 Canadians That Have Fought For Israel,” featured in online publication The Maple provides a link to the list.

Article content

Garner, who served in the IDF from 2011 to 2014 in a combat role, said she thought it was a “pretty clear expression of hatred for Jews.”

“The Canadian Jews on this list are quite possibly the most unflappable members of our Jewish community. I don’t think we’ll be intimidated by it, if that’s the intention. I don’t think it’s an acceptable thing to happen in Canada,” she told the National Post over the phone on Wednesday morning.

Garner was born and raised in Canada. She felt motivated to join the IDF to pay tribute to her grandparents, who were survivors of the Holocaust. She said she saw the need “for young Jews to protect the Jewish homeland.”

I think there’s a pretty dark historical precedent for making lists of Jews

Rebecca Garner

“I think there’s a pretty dark historical precedent for making lists of Jews. That’s what it immediately reminded me of,” she said. “A database of Jews.”

According to the article, its purpose is to provide a database of “mini-profiles for as many Canadians that have fought in the Israeli military at any point as I could find,” said its author, because “there is little existing research in Canada beyond one-off news articles about who these soldiers are and how they came to make the life choices that they did.”

Article content

Article content

The details about the Canadian IDF soldiers on the list is an aggregation of public information. The article describes the type of Canadian who becomes an IDF soldier as, on average, “a white Jewish man born and raised in Canada who immigrated to Israel in their late teens with the express purpose of joining its military.”

“The soldier is most likely to have grown up in a Greater Toronto Area neighbourhood with a larger-than-average proportion of Jewish residents in what they’d describe as a Zionist household,” the article states. The article also asks readers to send in tips to the publication “about other Canadians that have joined the Israeli military,” because the database is an ongoing project.

In an emailed statement to the National Post, author of the article Davide Mastracci said it was not a “doxxing website, as all of the information it contains was already in the public domain, primarily in articles published in other news outlets, including the National Post, the CBC and The Canadian Jewish News.” Doxxing, as defined by the University of Toronto’s Community Safety Office, is the collection and distribution of someone’s personal information on the internet by an unauthorized individual, usually with malicious intent.

Article content

“There is nothing antisemitic about the website, as the individuals were included based on their service in the Israeli military, not their religious identity,” Mastracci said in his statement.

Per the article, all 85 soldiers identified “were at least partially Jewish.”

The Maple is a nonprofit website that describes itself as “an entirely reader funded publication that puts the working class first.” It features news and opinion articles on politics and the Middle East, many of which take an anti-Israel stance.

The database was unavailable throughout the day on Tuesday, reappearing online sporadically. Mastracci told the National Post: “We did not take the website down, and are working to restore it. We expect it to be restored soon.”

On Wednesday, the database was not available online. When clicking the link, it says: “This site can’t be reached.”

When the article and list were published on Tuesday, MP Kevin Vuong referred to it as “doxxing” in a post on X.

“I stand in solidarity with (Canada)’s Jewish community,” he wrote. “When they target one of us, they are targeting all of us.”

Article content

In a statement to the National Post, Vuong said he felt compelled to speak out because “the people being targeted are Canadians.”

“It’s a Canadian issue when Canadians are doxxed. Additionally, I know some of the people on the list. I have stood with them in Toronto, and I will continue to stand with them and Canada’s Jewish community against this blatant campaign,” he said. “I want the community to know that you are not alone and, together, we will fight to restore the city and country that we knew and love.”

Garner said she was “moved” by Vuong’s social media post.

“It’s kind of sad that in this day and age, it’s such a show of courage to stand up for the Canadian Jewish community. It shouldn’t be hard for our leaders in Canada to denounce hatred of Jews,” she said.

Included in the list are Israel’s Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism Michal Cotler-Wunsh, design expert on The Morning Show Shai DeLuca, journalist and author Matti Friedman, and cyclist and public speaker Leah Goldstein.

Article content

Goldstein, 56, told the National Post in a phone interview on Wednesday that she was “not at all” intimidated by the list. She lived in Israel from the age of 17 until she was 32 years old. Because of her experience as a world champion kickboxer, she became the head of instruction for Krav Maga, the system of fighting for soldiers, for the IDF, she said.

“I am a public figure. Last year, I was disinvited on March 8 (to an International Women’s Day event in Ontario) because I served in the IDF. I got death threats … just absolutely ridiculous,” she said. In February 2024, the Times of Israel reported that Goldstein was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, but the event’s coordinators decided against it because a group took issue with her service in the Israeli military.

Since October 7, when Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people and triggered a war with Israel, Goldstein said she went from having 15 to 20 speaking engagements a year to “barely” three. Antisemitism has been on the rise in Canada since the Israel-Hamas War began, with 5,791 incidents cited in a report by Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada. That was compared to the previous year, which saw 2,769 incidents.

Article content

While the list does not intimidate Goldstein, she said she’s not sure why it was created.

“I’m not going to hide under a rock. It’s who I am,” she said. “I’m proud of my service and there’s no way I’ll hide it. But to put us out there, it feels like it is a bit targeted. What’s the purpose of that?”

Noah Shack, Interim President, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, called the list a “shameful attempt at intimidation,” in an emailed statement to the National Post. The list also included Ben Mizrahi, Shack pointed out, who was murdered by Hamas on October 7, and used his army medic training to try and save the lives of others.

“There is a long history of Canadians, particularly those with dual citizenship, who have served in the militaries of democratic allies of Canada, whether in countries like Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom,” said Shack. “In fact, some of the people in this list served as far back as the 1940s. Others on the list have lived in Israel for decades and have written books about their military service.”

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.

Article content