Leaders in Toronto’s Jewish community are calling on all levels of government to do more to curb extremist ideologies in the wake of the arrest of a Toronto man on terrorism charges and the revelation that the same individual is facing dozens of separate criminal charges in connection with violent incidents in the GTA that police say targeted women and the Jewish community.
“It’s absolutely chilling,” said Noah Shack, the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
Speaking with reporters after the charges were announced Friday, Shack said they are especially concerning in the wake of an antisemitic terrorist attack less than a week ago in Sydney, Australia, in which Jews celebrating Hanukkah on a beach were gunned down by two armed men.
Authorities have said the Bondi massacre was a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State group. The RCMP allege the suspect taken into custody on terror charges 26-year-old Toronto resident Waleed Khan -- was linked to the same terror group.
Khan is facing seven terrorism-related offences, including allegations that he conspired to commit murder “for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group.”
It is also alleged that Khan made himself available “to facilitate or commit a terrorism offence or an act or omission outside Canada” and provided property, specifically social media accounts, while knowing “it would be used by or would benefit a terrorist group, namely ISIS,” RCMP said.
Khan is also one of three people facing a combined 79 criminal charges in connection with a separate Toronto and Peel police investigation into attempted kidnappings that the authorities have said “were informed, in part, by hate-motivated extremism.“
“There’s a serious problem in this country of radicalization, of extremism, of the glorification and promotion of terrorism and violence,” Shack said. “And it’s not just an issue that impacts one group or one community. It’s a fundamental matter of national security.
“In Australia, it took the murder of a 10-year-old girl and 14 other innocent people for their government to wake up and start taking action. We can’t afford to pay that cost here in Canada.”
Shack praised local authorities for the arrests, but pointed to federal intelligence indicating that the threat of violence by radicals is an ongoing problem in Canada.
“We’re very grateful to law enforcement for catching these guys and taking them off the streets, and we’re glad to hear that there isn’t an imminent threat to our community from this,” he said. ”At the same time, it’s been made very clear to us by our national security apparatus that there is a realistic possibility of attacks taking place here in Canada.”
Briefing warns attacks on Jewish community ‘a realistic possibility’
A federal intelligence briefing was prepared by Canada’s Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC) on Dec. 15 in the wake of the Bondi attack.
CP24 obtained a copy of the briefing, which warns that “a violent extremist attack in Canada, including one targeting the Jewish community, remains a realistic possibility.”
“Holiday events, including Hanukkah celebrations set to occur across the West in the coming days, will likely remain an aspirational target across the violent extremist spectrum intending to attack Western interests, select religious and ethnic communities and related emblematic sites,” the briefing warns, though it notes “there is currently no observed reporting indicating an imminent, credible threat targeting the 2025 holiday season in Canada.”
The document says the same forces that may well have motivated the attack in Australia are at play in Canada.
“There is also a realistic possibility that the inspiration for this attack and subsequent target selection came from the 7 October 2023 attack in Israel and/or follow-on impacts felt in the West,” ITAC’s assessment states.
“The current threat environment targeting Jewish communities in the West has included several mitigated attacks in Canada, realized attacks across the West, an increased amount of RMVE (religiously motivated violent extremist) propaganda from groups such as DAESH or al-Qaida seizing on social or religious grievances (including the Israel-Hamas conflict), and Iranian-directed arson attacks in Australia in 2024, among others.”
The report notes “these same conditions and drivers exist in Canada, to differing degrees, and it is a realistic possibility that the Jewish community in Canada could be targeted by a violent extremist actor or actors.
Police-reported hate crimes in Canada motivated by antisemitism have seen a substantial rise since 2023, the ITAC report notes, adding that “increases the likelihood of more individuals adopting violent extremist sentiment.”
Recent attacks on Jewish spaces in Canada include firebombings at synagogues in Vancouver and Montreal, the defacing of the National Holocaust Monument, and an Ottawa woman stabbed in the kosher section of a grocery store. In Toronto, a Jewish girls’ school was shot at three times in 2024.
In a statement on X, Toronto police said Friday there are “no known threats to Toronto’s Jewish community” at the moment.
“We are actively monitoring, working with our partners, and increasing our presence where needed, to ensure community safety.”
Root causes must be addressed
Shack said it’s important to also address the root causes of extremism, saying protests seen on the streets over the past two years have sometimes crossed a line.
“We need to get at the root of this extremism, to focus on the promotion of terrorism, the glorification of terrorism that we have heard again and again on streets all across Canada, calling to globalize the Intifada or promoting violence and murder targeting Canadians. It’s just not acceptable, and we need action now,” Shack said.
Jewish groups have said the phrase “globalize the Intifada” is an explicit call to violence against Jews worldwide, though Palestinian activists have maintained the phrase does not necessarily imply violence, but could refer to political struggle.
“There’s been an inclination to turn a blind eye, to hope, to believe that if we just leave things alone, they’ll get better, that the problem will go away. That hasn’t been the case. That’s been a grave mistake,” Shack said.
He said he’s also concerned that some of those charged with acts of hate have been easily granted bail.
“We do need to make sure that hate and hate motivation is taken into consideration every time when there is consideration of bail,” Shack said, though he said tougher enforcement of existing anti-hate laws would also be a positive step.
In a statement, CIJA said there is “a ticking time bomb in our country that our leaders must confront before it’s too late.”
Security has been stepped up at Jewish community spaces around the GTA this week in light of the Bondi attacks, but dozens of Hanukkah celebrations have continued around the city.
Speaking with CP24 at one menorah lighting ceremony earlier this week, Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman, who represents a riding with a large Jewish population, said it’s important that the community continue to gather celebrate in the face of extremism.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Lantsman said.
With files from The Canadian Press
