TORONTO — A Toronto lawyer whose newspaper columns have been critical of Palestinian leaders and the United Nations will be Canada’s next ambassador to Israel.
Vivian Bercovici, who studied at Hebrew University and was an adjunct law professor at the University of Toronto, was appointed Wednesday to the position by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
In her columns for the Toronto Star, Bercovici has slammed the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for “their collective ideological commitment to the total destruction of the state of Israel, which they regard as a blasphemous blight on the Arab and Muslim worlds.”
She also has referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “respected” leader who “has enhanced national security, immeasurably,” while decrying the United Nations for allowing human rights violators such as Iran and Egypt to condemn Israel repeatedly.
The announcement came as Prime Minister Stephen Harper is preparing to visit Israel for the first time later this month. Under Harper, Canada has voiced strident support for Israel.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this