‘No greater friend’: The bond between Netanyahu and Harper goes beyond statecraft

Jason Ransom/PMOPrime Minister Stephen Harper and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chat in the backyard following lunch at 24 Sussex

Kathryn Blaze Carlson "...No one should have been surprised at the Harper government’s decisions of late: Canada was the first country to cut off aid to terrorist group Hamas; it supported Israel’s military operation during the 2006 war with Lebanon; Canada alone voted against a 2009 UN Human Rights Council resolution calling on Israel to stop its military operation in Gaza; it took over representation of Israel in Venezuela after President Hugo Chavez closed the embassy, citing Israel’s “barbarism”; it shuttered Iran’s embassy in Ottawa and declared it a state-sponsor of terror; and while the government has expressed opposition to Israel’s building in the West Bank, Canada has consistently espoused Israel’s right to defend itself.
The Harper government has declared that “Israel has no greater friend than Canada,” and Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, has cited Mr. Harper as “Netanyahu’s closest ally” and “the foreign leader friendliest to Israel.”
Mr. Harper’s unwavering support for Israel has come under scrutiny among those trying to understand why, exactly, the conservative leader has taken such a strong interest in protecting a tiny Jewish state on the other side of the world — no matter the international or domestic political cost.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to an interview request, but those who worked closely with Mr. Harper say his motivation boils down to one fundamental and long-standing conviction: Free countries like Canada have a duty to defend and promote sovereign democracies like Israel because an existential threat against Israel is a threat against the democratic values Canadians hold dear..." Read complete article here...