Canadians with IDF ties react to Canada's 'witch hunt' against former Israeli soldiers

Just after New Year’s Day, an NDP member of Parliament, Heather McPherson, adopted a private citizen’s petition calling on the government to scrutinize Canadian citizens and residents who have served in the Israel Defense Forces. The petition is the latest in a series of requests from lawmakers targeting IDF veterans for allegedly violating Canadian war-crime laws and international rules on genocide.

This parliamentary effort comes after a Liberal MP from the Montreal area, Sameer Zuberi, asked officials with the Canada Border Services Agency to screen for non-Canadian citizens entering Canada who served in the IDF and may have participated in breaches of international law. Simultaneous to all this, families of Canadian IDF soldiers are still reeling after a Canadian media outlet created a public database of hundreds of former or current soldiers, effectively doxxing private citizens.

One young man on that list is Eitan Ellis, 29, the son of Israel Ellis, an author and podcaster who is campaigning to get the website shut down. For reaction to this societal pivot against the IDF Canadians have witnessed over the last several months, Israel Ellis joins today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship podcast, North Star, along with David Kalman, an entrepreneur in Toronto who served his compulsory military service over thirty years ago. He calls the targeting of people in his situation a “witch hunt”.

Lastly, at the end of this episode, hear a clip of host Ellin Bessner’s exclusive interview with Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, who was held for nearly six hours by Canadian border agents before a scheduled performance at the Prosserman JCC in Toronto—and found himself greeted with anti-Israel protesters once he arrived at the venue.

Related links

• Read more about the RCMP’s structural investigation into possible war crimes by IDF veterans in The CJN from June 2025 , and in Jan. 2026 .

• Learn more about Israel Ellis’ new book “10.7 The Wake Up Call” and his “The Unfiltered View” podcasts via his website .

• Follow Israeli comedian Guy Hochman .

• Learn more about David Kalman’s pest control business Good Riddance Critters .

Credits

• Host and writer:

Ellin Bessner [e-mail]

• Production team:

Zachary Kauffman (senior producer),

Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

Alicia Richler (editorial director)

• Music:

Bret Higgins

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