Record turnout for Toronto pro-Israel march as violent antisemitism spikes across Canada

TORONTO — The streets of central Toronto pulsed with Israeli and Persian tunes on Sunday as 60,000 people converged to demonstrate solidarity with Israel and Canada’s Jewish community.

In response to surging Jew-hatred that has darkened Toronto over the last several months, a diverse crowd chose to march with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s 57th Walk with Israel. Despite sometimes violent counter-protests on the march’s sidelines, this year’s walk attracted 4,000 more participants than last year, making it one of the largest public demonstrations of support for Israel in the world.

“We’re not afraid of anything, in spite of all the antisemitism that’s been going down, specifically here in Toronto,” said participant Shai Klein. “It gives us that much more reason to be here today and show that we’re not going to back down in the face of hatred, and that we’re going to show our pride. And we’re not leaving Toronto and Canada. We’re going to be proud Jews here and support the State of Israel no matter what.”

Jewish participants in the roughly four-kilometer (two-and-a-half-mile) walk, along the heavily Jewish areas of Wilson Avenue and Bathurst Street, told The Times of Israel they were there to clearly state their deep connection to their ancestral homeland and their belief in its sovereignty and right to self-defense.

They were joined by many other walkers from an array of backgrounds, including members of the Christian, Persian, Hindu, White, Black, Asian, Filipino and Indian communities. All approached by The Times of Israel said they attended the march in support of the Jewish state and to speak out against the anti-Zionist hate that is endangering Jews worldwide.

This year, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, a nonprofit organization, raised CAD 650,000 ($466,000) for the walk, which fell short of the $780,000 ($560,000) target it set in honor of Israel’s 78th birthday, and was notably less than the CAD 1.4 million ($1 million) it raised last year. All of the money supports humanitarian initiatives in Israel that provide mental health, physical recovery and trauma care services, and aid to evacuees.

The demonstration had an air of particular urgency, coming as antisemitic hate crimes have risen to the highest levels seen in Canada since World War II following the bloody Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war against the ruling terror organization in Gaza.

Canada’s anti-Zionist movement has gained unprecedented traction, universities are increasingly hostile to Israel, synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses are vandalized with alarming frequency, and antisemitic violence is at an all-time high.

According to the latest Toronto police data, Jews are targeted by 82% of religiously motivated hate crimes. Nationally, B’nai Brith Canada recently released a report documenting 6,800 incidents of antisemitism in 2025, the highest volume since it began gathering this data in 1982 — a figure that is particularly disturbing given that Jews make up just 1% of Canada’s population.

Synagogues have been repeatedly targeted with gunfire over the last two years. In recent weeks, attacks against Jewish targets have included an attempted arson at a Montreal synagogue, gel-gun assaults on visibly Jewish people in Toronto, and on Saturday, an attack that shattered the window of Toronto Congregation Mishkan Avraham, which is located just south of the walk route.

“With the rise of hatred against the Jewish community, we need community to be our source of strength, so this is really an injection of energy and pride that I think people of all ages and stages in our Jewish community in Toronto are waiting for and need,” said Sara Lefton, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s chief development officer.

“Seeing allies come out to stand with us and support our community as we’re going through these really, really difficult moments is more important than ever,” said Lefton.

The soaring hate against Jews in Toronto necessitated the walk’s largest-ever security measures. A well-coordinated police response consisted of officers from Toronto, York, Durham, Peel and the Ontario Provincial Police patrolling the entire perimeter and surrounding neighborhoods on foot, bicycle and horseback. Complementing their efforts was a sizeable contingent of private security companies and Jewish community protection organizations such as Shomrim and Hatzoloh.

Counter-demonstrators breach police barrier

Anti-Israel protesters assembled at locations adjacent to the route, chanting “Genocide no more,” and “Israel is an apartheid state.” Some waved the flag of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and held signs with the slogans “Marg bar Israel” — Farsi for “Death to Israel” — “Down with Zionism,” “Kill more babies,” and “Jews against Israeli crimes.”

Police contained most of the demonstrators in a designated area away from the walk, but some breached the police barrier. Police arrested six people for alleged acts such as assaulting a police officer, displaying antisemitic messages and stomping on an Israeli flag.

Politicians do — and do not — make appearances

Several federal, provincial and municipal government leaders took part in the walk, including Member of Provincial Parliament and Attorney General Michael Kerzner, who represents the district of York Centre, where the walk took place.

Kerzner, who is Jewish, has been criticized by some for not sufficiently using his authority to push for more responsive enforcement of laws against those who explicitly demonize Jews, including a group that has been meeting weekly at a major intersection in his district. In December, Kerzner told the Toronto police chief in a statement that “strong action is required to prevent further escalation and hold offenders to account.”

“There has never been a more important time in the history of the Jewish community in Canada to stand with Israel. And so, I will,” Kerzner said.

Also on hand were two of the district’s federal members of government, Leslie Church from the governing Liberal party and Roman Baber from the Conservatives, the official opposition party. Baber and Melissa Lantsman, who is a deputy leader of the Conservatives, are both Jewish and have consistently called for more assertive government and police action to curb the antisemitism crisis in Canada.

“When governments go quiet, communities find their voice. That’s why we walk. Not in fear. In pride and in love for this country, and in the unshakeable belief that what binds Canada and Israel together as allies is freedom, democracy and decency,” Lantsman said.

Absent from the walk was Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, a fierce Israel critic who has claimed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza — a charge Israel vehemently denies — and who some say has been too slow to condemn local acts of Jew-hatred.

However, Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford, the leading challenger in the upcoming October 26 mayoral election, did participate and noted on X: “We walk for peace, justice, pluralism, and the right of every person to thrive in a Toronto that is welcoming, tolerant, and safe for all.”

Also missing was Prime Minister Mark Carney, who recently announced the formation of a new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion to help combat antisemitism and other forms of hate and racism.

Carney’s response to the country’s soaring antisemitism has drawn criticism from Jewish groups, who find it inadequate and dangerous for its refusal to name anti-Zionist hate as a main cause of antisemitism in Canada.

Joining the walk were the leaders of various grassroots Jewish civil rights groups in Canada, including the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, Canadian Women Against Antisemitism, Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, Israel Now, STOP Antizionism, Tafsik, Unapologetically Jewish and Yalla!

Natasha H. Pein, executive director of STOP Antizionism, which co-organized the World Symposium Against Antizionism in Toronto on May 17, characterized the walk as a declaration by Jews and their allies that “antizionism is Jew-hatred. Antizionism is racism.”

Describing Jew-hate as a sign of civilizational decline, Pein continued that anti-Zionism “is not political criticism of Israel. It is an ideology that hides behind the language of human rights while denying the Jewish people’s right to existence in their ancestral homeland — a right afforded to every other nation.”

“We are here to expose the mask, reject the lie, and reclaim that truth publicly and unapologetically,” Pein said.

Waving the flag for Israel

Pro-Israel marchers carried Canadian flags — notably absent among the anti-Israel counter-protesters — as well as those of Israel, Imperial Iran, the United States and India.

According to the UJA’s Lefton, more groups allied to the Jewish community registered for the walk than ever before. Among supporters was Reza Ghazi, an Iranian-Canadian who proudly waved a large flag with the Persian Lion and Sun emblem.

“This is our duty. [We are] two nations always together, and we should be together because we will be stronger,” said Ghazi, referring to Israelis and Iranians united against the country’s ruling Islamic regime, which has brutally cracked down on dissent, killing and injuring thousands.

Eve Wang was at the walk with fellow congregants from Canada House of Prayer, a Christian ministry in Richmond Hill.

“We love Israel, we support the Jewish community, and we also rally people to love the Jewish neighbors around us,” Wang said.

Steven Rapoport said he was proud to attend and wave his giant Star of David rainbow flag.

“It’s a tradition with my friends. We are Jewish men who are queer. We find it’s important to represent, to march and to show our pride,” Rapoport said.