In a tweet on February 4, MacKay said, “It has always been my personal view that Jerusalem is the undisputed capital of the State of Israel and that is where Canada’s embassy should be and under my leadership, will be located.”
Canada’s Jewish community “knows that the Conservative Party stands shoulder to shoulder with them,” MacKay tweeted, adding that, as minister of defense, “I made it clear (that) a threat to Israel is a threat to Canada. I will always stand with one of Canada’s closest allies.”
It will be important, MacKay went on, “to consult our diplomatic officials at our embassy in Israel to make the necessary preparations for the move.”
The statement appeared to signal a change of heart, as only the day before, the Post Millennial website quoted MacKay as saying he needed to consult and learn more before deciding whether to move Canada’s embassy from Tel Aviv.
“I said that there is a lot of priorities, and I want to hear more about those priorities before I make these pronouncements on a whole range of issues and so we’re in this process now – consulting broadly, hearing from experts who are well-informed on these issues, and I’m very much interested in hearing their perspectives and that’s what I’m doing right now,” MacKay was quoted as saying. (Read More)