Today marks the painful anniversary of two years since the horrific Hamas terror attacks in Israel. 1,200 people were killed—Israelis, foreign nationals, and dual citizens, including eight Canadians. Nearly 6,900 others were injured, and more than 250 were taken hostage to Gaza. 105 hostages were released during the November 2023 ceasefire, and another 30 were released during the January–March 2025 ceasefire. Eight were rescued by the IDF, and five were released by Hamas. 58 bodies have been repatriated to Israel. 48 hostages remain in Gaza. Over 100,000 Israelis were displaced from both the north and south of the country, and approximately 10,000 remain displaced today.
Two years into the attacks and the ensuing Israel–Hamas war, the pain for Israelis and for many in the Canadian Jewish community remains complex, unrelenting, and unforgiving. For many of us, this day must stand on its own, granted space for the deep sorrow and grief that are still very much alive.
Especially now, as we appear closer to a ceasefire and hostage release deal than we have been in a long time, we are reminded that this trauma is not yet behind us. The painful memories of that day cannot yet belong to the past, they remain a part of our present.
And for as long as the tragedy of October 7 remains part of our present, its implications and repercussions cannot be ignored.
Israel’s war in response to the Hamas terror attacks of October 7 has killed over 65,000 Palestinians, with many more injured, displaced, or suffering from food insecurity and inadequate water and sanitation. A survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) reported that more than 60% of Gazans have lost family members since the war began.
As a Zionist organization, we champion the sovereignty and agency afforded to the Jewish state through statehood. But we must also take responsibility and demand accountability for the decisions made by a sovereign state.
That a response was necessary and required following Hamas’s horrific October 7 attacks does not mean that any response was justified.
Indeed, what we have seen over the past two years has caused immeasurable damage. Most of all to Palestinians, but also to Israelis left in limbo over the fate of the hostages; to soldiers and reservists burdened by prolonged and repeated deployments; and to Israel’s relationships with its international partners and allies around the world.
Long before October 7 and the devastating days that followed, our organization worked to preserve and advance the two-state solution. After October 7, we were the first Jewish Zionist organization to host a conference envisioning a “day after” for Israel and Gaza, and to advocate diplomacy toward peace through a two-state solution rather than endless war.
Now, nearly two years later, we see many of the same ideas we have championed, not only since the start of the war but throughout our organization’s entire existence, being advanced by some of the world’s most influential nations, and by an Israeli government that now finds itself with no choice but to listen.
Today, tomorrow, and throughout this week, we will mourn the horrific Hamas attacks and the lives lost, injured, and forever changed. And we will affirm that, as difficult as it may be, our history and our story cannot and will not begin and end on October 7, 2023.
We must ask not only what military victories can be achieved, but who we are asked to be, and who we strive to become. We must recognize that who we are matters more than our tactical achievements, and we must define ourselves not by our trauma, and not even by the present moment, but by the choices we make next.
Victory is measured by what we build, not by what we destroy. Therefore, we commit to continuing to build. A Jewish and democratic state that lives in peace and security alongside a sovereign Palestinian state. An Israel at peace with its neighbours, and a global Jewish community that looks out not only for one another but for all those around us.