Montreal city council walks back motion to cut ties with Israel

The city government of Montreal, Canada, failed to pass a motion on Monday that sought to cut ties between the Canadian city and Israel, instead passing an expression of solidarity with Palestinians.

The city passed the watered-down version of the proposal by a vote of 54-6 after a lengthy debate that highlighted divides within the city government and among outside activists.

Montreal’s opposition had backed the motion to cut ties with Israel, but Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrara and her administration had opposed the move, saying foreign relations were the purview of the federal government.

“We are not a government of a national perspective on foreign affairs. That is not our role,” Martinez Ferrara said during a Monday press conference.

The administration proposed amendments to the initial motion, removing the demand that Montreal cut institutional and diplomatic ties with Israel, as well as demands the city denounce “apartheid” and “genocide” by Israel, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The amendments passed by a vote of 38-22, The Montreal Gazette reported.

The final motion expressed “solidarity with the Palestinian people as well as all civilian victims of hostilities” in the Middle East.

The motion also backed Montreal’s commitment to international law and called on the federal and provincial governments to demonstrate “greater leadership” in resolving the conflict.

After the vote, Nathalie Goulet of Projet Montreal, the opposition group that initiated the proposal, said the group was “extremely disappointed” with the amendments.

Outside activists had campaigned on both sides.

Anti-Israel groups organized petitions, campaigned for the measure online and rallied outside Montreal’s City Hall on Monday.

Video from The National Post showed anti-Zionist activists shouting, “Shame on you,” and, “Genocide supporter,” at those leaving city hall.

Leaving courtroom. When they show you who they are, believe them pic.twitter.com/t5BoY3xudh

— Terry Newman (@terrynewman) August 25, 2026

B’nai Brith Canada, a leading Jewish group, had urged the city to reject the motion.

“For the City of Montreal to weigh into this conflict would be inappropriate and exacerbate tensions between communities. It is not in the city’s purview to dictate foreign policy for its residents,” B’nai Brith said in a statement.

The statement tied anti-Israel activism to hostility against Jews.

Greek and Italian community groups also opposed the initial motion.

B’nai Brith Canada hailed the vote and applauded Soraya Martinez in a Tuesday statement.

“We are pleased that the City Council did not adopt the deceitful and distorted language contained in the original motion,” said Paola Samuel, B’nai Brith Canada’s Regional Director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

“We urge Montreal’s city council to continue to focus its attention on what matters most to its constituents — housing, crime and affordability — rather than inserting itself into complex geo-political issues that foster division and contribute to the normalization of hate on our streets,” Samuel said.

The motion was significant because, if its original text had passed, it would have made Montreal the largest North American city to cut ties with Israel, following European cities like Barcelona, Spain, and Liege, Belgium.

Montreal is home to a large Jewish population and has a long and storied Jewish history. It also hosts an Israeli consulate.

Studies have repeatedly found record levels of antisemitism in Canada in recent years, including high-profile incidents in Montreal.

In Montreal, antisemitic activity has targeted an Israeli soccer player, synagogues have been hit with arson and firebombings, protesters have hanged effigies of Israeli leaders, and Jews have been attacked in public.