Michael Higgins: Mark Carney brags about using terrorist talking points to lecture Israel

Members of a Gaza-bound flotilla, that were detained by Israeli security forces last week, arrive at Sydney International Airport on May 25, 2026. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP via Getty Images)

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It is disheartening to see Mark Carney continuing the tiresome Liberal tendency to self-righteously scold Israel rather than engaging in actual dialogue. 

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Carney was at his most moralistic on Monday when speaking to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as can be deduced from a summary of the conversation released by the prime minister’s office (PMO). 

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The prime minister “underscored” Canada’s support for a negotiated two-state solution; he “underlined” the imperative of de‑escalation in the region; Carney “raised” the crisis in Gaza and he “expressed concern” about the displacement of civilians in Lebanon. 

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This was a lecture not a conversation. 

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And on some things, recollections obviously differed. 

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According to the PMO, “The leaders discussed the devastating resurgence of antisemitism around the world.” 

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According to Herzog on X, “I expressed my deep alarm over the rise in antisemitic violence in Canada. I called on Prime Minister Carney and his government to address the fear and sense of abandonment felt by our sisters and brothers in the Canadian Jewish community before it’s too late.” 

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That’s quite the different interpretation. 

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Then there was Carney on the recent Gaza flotilla. 

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“The Prime Minister reiterated that the appalling treatment of civilians, including Canadian citizens, aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla was unacceptable, and he called for an independent investigation,” said the summary. 

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Carney is right to be concerned for the safety of Canadians aboard, but his unease might be tempered, his responsibility less irksome and his criticism less valid if it turns out that this flotilla is a Hamas propaganda stunt and the so-called activists are not mere dupes of the Palestinian terrorists but avid supporters. 

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The United States, for one, is absolutely certain who is behind the flotilla: Hamas. 

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The key backer of the flotilla, and previous ones, is the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), an organization that “is clandestinely controlled” by Palestinian terrorists, said a statement last week from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). 

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“Hamas relies on a diverse web of international partners to expand its malign political influence, facilitate violent terrorist activity, and undermine international efforts to achieve lasting peace in Gaza,” said the statement. 

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“In reality, the PCPA was established with funding from Hamas’s International Relations Bureau and Hamas directs its activity through the placement of Hamas officials throughout the organization.” 

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A previous statement in January from the OFAC detailed how assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh identified the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad as a means to “boost Hamas’s international outreach.” 

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“The PCPA does not only work with, and in support of, Hamas — it operates at Hamas’s behest,” said that statement.