Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas entered its fourth day, the head of a major Jewish-Canadian group says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured him today that Canada is “actively working” on a plan to evacuate Canadians stranded in Israel. Meanwhile, a second Canadian citizen – a young man from Vancouver – has been confirmed dead in the violence.
On Monday, Israel ordered a siege of Gaza, halting electricity, food and supplies. By today, the conflict was expected to escalate, with more than 1,800 dead on both sides. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition today agreed to form an emergency unity government with opposition politicians, his ruling Likud Party said.
Ottawa crafting plan to evacuate citizens stranded in Israel, head of Jewish-Canadian group says
Shimon Fogel, chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said he’s confident now that Ottawa is working on an evacuation plan. The Prime Minister’s Office was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
Fogel made his comments after the Official Opposition was calling on the government to dispatch evacuation flights for citizens in Israel, noting other countries have already done so.
According to the Canadian government, about 35,000 Canadian citizens live in Israel on a permanent basis. The Department of Global Affairs says about 90,000 Canadians travel to Israel each year. A registry of current Canadians visiting Israel was counting 2,500 as of this weekend but that is not considered a complete count because it’s a voluntary list.
- Israel nears forming emergency government after Hamas attack
- U.S. says it is talking to Israel about safe passage for Gaza civilians
Vancouver man confirmed as second Canadian victim in Hamas attack in southern Israel
Ben Mizrachi, 22, was among those killed during an attack on the Supernova music festival in southern Israel on Saturday. He is the second confirmed Canadian victim in the early-morning attack on the rave, which was one of the targets in a string of surprise attacks on Israel by Hamas militants. Mizrachi graduated from a private Jewish high school in Vancouver, King David, in 2018, and then enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. A funeral service will be held in Kvutzat Yavne, a kibbutz in central lsrael. His parents, Dikla and Etsik Mizrachi, flew to Israel on the weekend when their son was first reported missing.
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Israeli festivalgoer rescued by father after hiding in bushes from Hamas gunmen
Sivan Avnery didn’t waste any time when he heard from his 18-year-old son Tal, who called from the music festival that was targeted by Hamas on Saturday. “They’re shooting at me,” he told his parents. Sivan grabbed his gun, water and a military-style helmet from his years as a reservist in the Israeli army, and set off to rescue his son.
Biden reiterates support for Israel, calls on Congress to approve more military aid
Fourteen U.S. citizens were killed in Hamas’s attack on Israel while others are being held hostage, U.S. President Joe Biden said today as he reiterated his government’s support for Israel and called on Congress to approve more military aid. The announcement marks the first official confirmation that Americans were among the roughly 150 people kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza. The 14 dead represents an increase from 11 confirmed by Biden yesterday. More than 1,200 people were killed by Hamas in total.
- After a day of confusion and social media chaos, Europe confirms that funding to Palestinians will continue
- X promises ‘highest level’ response on posts about Israel-Hamas war, but misinformation still flourishes
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Greenbelt: The RCMP is investigating the Ontario government’s now-abandoned move to allow housing in certain parts of the province’s protected Greenbelt, a plan an auditor-general’s report had condemned for favouring certain developers.
Labour: General Motors of Canada and Unifor reached a tentative agreement today, ending a brief strike and turning the focus to the final round of Detroit Three talks with Stellantis NV.
Afghanistan: Rescuers in Afghanistan’s devastated northwest scaled back operations today as chances of finding survivors diminished 72 hours after one of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
MARKET WATCH
Major North American stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday after dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials pushed Treasury yields lower while investors cautiously monitored developments in the Middle East.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed at 19,501.20, up 255.13 points, or 1.33 per cent. Bay Street’s outperformance was due to a big rally in the oilpatch. With market’s closed on Monday for Thanksgiving, traders were catching up to the rally in energy prices on Monday following the attacks in Israel.
The S&P 500 gained 22.58 points, or 0.52 per cent, to end at 4,358.24 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 78.60 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 13,562.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 134.65 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 33,739.30.
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TALKING POINTS
The destructive hubris of Benjamin Netanyahu
“Admittedly, blood flowed even when peace-seekers such as Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak were in office. But Mr. Netanyahu recklessly invited violence by paying his coalition partners any price for their support.” - Shlomo Ben-Ami
No, your Jewish and Palestinian friends are not doing okay
“For some, the events of the past three days have actually been triggering. Many Jews are descended from Holocaust survivors, victims of pogroms, and other violent campaigns against our ancestors who were targeted because they were Jewish.” – Marsha Lederman
Canada can help save the hostages in Gaza
“First, Canada should use its significant convening capacity to co-ordinate an international legal and diplomatic response on behalf of all hostages. With nationals from around the world being held captive, Canada should help establish a working group of all concerned countries to co-ordinate collective action.” – Irwin Cotler and Brandon Silver
Fifty years ago, war with Israel upended the world economy – now it barely registers
“Some observers have speculated on the hand of the Iranians in the Hamas operation, and warn that Israel’s retaliation would plunge the entire region into war. Certainly if that happened, the impact on the world economy would be swift and harsh.” – John Rapley
Danielle Smith may be grandstanding, but Canada’s Clean Electricity Regulations do need a fix
“Ottawa must take seriously the challenge the draft regulations place on the fossil-electricity provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. At a minimum, the regulations need to provide more flexibility to produce a workable policy pathway to shared net-zero goals – which would only complement the carbon-pricing program that Ottawa fought so hard to implement.” – Blake Shaffer and Andrew Leach
LIVING BETTER
How to endurance train like a Norwegian
Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway crosses the finish line to win the 2000m men event and set a new world record time during the Diamond League Memorial Van Damme athletics event at the King Baudouin stadium, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. The new world record time is 4:43:13.Geert Vanden Wijngaert/The Associated Press
We aren’t all seven feet tall or able to train seven hours a day. But we might still have some things to learn from Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian track star who just wrapped up one of the most successful long-distance running campaigns in recent memory. He’s the leading exponent of an unorthodox training philosophy that has come to be known as the “Norwegian model,” and its prime directive – keep your intensity at a medium level – just might be good advice for the rest of us, writes Alex Hutchinson.
TODAY’S LONG READ
How Donald Trump’s win in 2016 pushed Will Arbery to get Heroes of the Fourth Turning on stage
Playwright Will Arbery.Supplied
Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning premiered in 2019 off-Broadway, and has since emerged as one of the most talked-about plays in North America. The Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, which opened this week in Toronto in a co-production between the Howland Company and Crow’s Theatre, has sparked healthy debates on both sides of the political divide, writes Glenn Sumi.
Evening Update is written by Maryam Shah. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.