Canadian website sparks controversy – publishes names, personal details of Canadians who served in IDF

The Canadian non-profit organization The Maple published on its website the names and personal details of approximately 85 Canadian citizens who have served in the Israeli military.

The list included 85 Canadians and dual Canadian-Israeli citizens who have served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Among them is Ben Mizrachi, a 22-year-old dual Canadian-Israeli national and former IDF medic, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists while attempting to aid victims at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023.

The list was compiled by an anti-Israel freelance journalist based in Toronto, Davide Mastracci, who previously worked for HuffPost Canada and has been published in Al Jazeera.

The website urges the public to provide information about other Canadian citizens who have served in the Israeli military, and Mastracci has vowed to expand the list with more names as they become available.

"You should share their name, how you know they were in the military, and any public sources you have that prove it," the site urges.

Jewish Canadians and Israelis living in Canada have blasted the controversial list amid rising levels of antisemitism in Canada since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre.

"It's stirring up the community," argued one Israeli who currently resides in Canada. "It's running wild in our groups. In general, you see, our whole sense of 'security' here has been radically undermined for a long time. There will always be those who ignore it and say that it's more dangerous in Israel. That may be true, but Canada, which was the symbol of a comfortable and safe life for Jews, has long since ceased to be so."

He continued, "There are antisemitic incidents all the time and the great concern is the lack of intervention by the police here. Just last Sunday police refused to take action against protesters who celebrated the deaths of the Bibas family members."

He dismissed the publication of the list as an expression of the freedom of speech, calling it "criminal naivety."

"We are experiencing processes here from 1930s Europe. Marking Jews/Israelis, excluding them, shaming them in public. The point is that there is no doubt that the whole world is against us, but Canada is no longer a safe place for Jews," he added.

The Jewish community in Toronto has also criticized the controversial list, arguing that it is implicitly endangering the lives of Israelis and Jews in Canada.

"Whoever published the list is careful. He is not calling for harming them, but insists on publishing a list only of Canadians who served in the IDF. Why is that good?" the statement read. "There is also a condoning of shedding of Jewish blood; a feeling that the police are doing nothing."

Canada was once a country that was considered safe for Jews and other minorities. However, the number of antisemitic incidents has increased by a whopping 670% since the beginning of the Iron Swords War in Gaza.

In November 2024, anti-Israel rioters clashed with police officers in the predominantly French-speaking city of Montreal. Violent rioters set cars and a Netanyahu effigy on fire.

Antisemitism was also on full display as some anti-Israel protesters openly performed Nazi salutes and called for a new “Final Solution,” Nazi Germany's plan to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Europe during World War II, resulting in the genocide of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

At the time, Quebec Senator Leo Housakos blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for ignoring the rise of antisemitism and extremism in the North American country.