Canada Warns Businesses Against Israel Project — Israel Fires Back

Canada has joined six European governments in condemning Israel's E1 construction plans in Judea and Samaria — even taking the unusual step of warning private businesses against bidding on the project.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK demanded that Israel retract the plans, declared Israeli settlements illegal under international law, and warned businesses of potential "legal and reputational consequences" if they pursue commercial opportunities connected to E1.

Israel is pushing back strongly.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar rejected the criticism, declaring that "the Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel" and accusing the British government in particular of adopting a one-sided approach that condemns Israel while ignoring Palestinian terrorism, incitement and the Palestinian Authority's continued payments to terrorists.

Sa'ar also disputed the suggestion that Israel had just made a new decision on E1. He said the development decision was made in 2025 and that the tender process has already been underway for months, with additional tender documents only recently published.

Meanwhile, HonestReporting Canada has accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of applying a double standard to Israel, pointing to his previous assertion that “lecturing other countries from afar is an ineffective strategy.” The organization argues that Ottawa has been far more willing to publicly condemn Israel while maintaining close relations with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey despite their own human-rights controversies.

HRC specifically pointed to Turkey’s occupation of northern Cyprus and questioned why Ottawa continues to pursue closer cooperation with Ankara while regularly issuing public criticism of Israel.

Whatever one's position on E1 itself, Canada's decision to go beyond diplomatic criticism and actively caution private businesses against participating in an Israeli construction project is significant — and raises the question of whether Israel is being held to a standard Canada applies equally elsewhere.