TORONTO, July 8th, 2025 – The Zoryan Institute hosted an analytical webinar “The Conduct and Response of ‘Third States’ to Gaza” featuring Jon Allen, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel and Senior Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History. Ambassador Allen reviewed the responses of Western major powers, specifically that of the US under the Biden and Trump administrations to contextualize their support for Israel.
He described the conflict within the broader context of the loss of innocent lives, highlighting a statement by Israel’s President that “all Gazans will pay for what Hamas has done.” Despite widespread criticism of the US for not pressuring Israel to allow sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza, the U.S. has continued to provide military and political assistance valued at $18 billion to date.
While the U.S. and West remain allies, Russia and China were publicly critical of Israel’s actions, though neither was effective in preventing the escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Meanwhile, India, under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, expressed full support for Israel, despite ongoing domicide and the catastrophic toll on civilians.
Middle Eastern states maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel, particularly those with significant Arab populations, largely upheld those ties, with the notable exception of Jordan, which withdrew its ambassador in response to the blockade of humanitarian aid in the region.
During a compelling Q&A session following Mr. Allen’s presentation, he was asked a series of pressing questions: Why do you prefer to label the conflict as a war rather than a “genocide”? Can analytical comparisons be drawn between present-day Gaza and the harrowing conditions of the Warsaw Ghetto? Why has the international community been so slow to respond?
In answering these questions, Mr. Allen shared the following regarding contemporary international legal frameworks:
“Incitement to genocide is one of the crimes of the genocide convention. I think there is no question given the statements even by the President of Israel shortly after October 7th and by ministers [ Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich ] and the Chief of Staff, former Chief of Staff that incitement to genocide has taken place.”
Ambassador Allen possesses hands-on knowledge and deep insight into the issues related to Gaza and the internal Israeli political landscape. His presentation was thorough and grounded in developments from the past 20 months, offering remarkable detail that captivated the audience throughout the session.
We strongly recommend people to listen to the rest of Ambassador Allen’s session, as the full recording of the session is now available on the Zoryan Institute’s YouTube channel. You can view the full webinar below:
