Liberal adviser slammed for Israel remarks

Andrew Leslie

The Conservative Party of Canada is pouncing on comments made by Andrew Leslie, a former general and top foreign policy adviser to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, that suggested Israel indiscriminately targeted Palestinian women and children during the recent conflict in Gaza.

“The comments… are deeply disturbing. They show once again that the Liberals fail to understand the inhumane tactics of Hamas, a terrorist organization under Canadian law,” said Finance Minister Joe Oliver.

Jason Kenney, minister for employment, social development and multiculturalism, said Leslie’s remark was “inappropriate” and “reflects profound misunderstanding of the situation, a skewed perspective on the part of Mr. Leslie,” he said.

Asked by reporters about Leslie’s statement, Trudeau said, “Mr. Leslie can speak for himself… I’m proud to have such a strong military commander with a deep record of service to Canada on my team.”

Deputy Liberal Leader Ralph Goodale criticized how the remark was elicited. He told Canadian Press that such “covert operations… has a Nixonian kind of feel to it.”

The incident occurred last week when Sun News reported that Andrew Leslie, a retired Canadian lieutenant-general who co-chairs a group of foreign policy advisers for Trudeau, said Israel fired “indiscriminately onto Palestinian women and children.”

“You know what the body count is now. So Israel actually lost this war.”

Leslie, who hopes to run as the Liberal candidate in Ottawa-Orleans in the 2015 election, was speaking Aug. 19 at a roundtable on veterans affairs. During the course of the event, he was asked questions on the Mideast by a woman identified by Sun Media as Alexandra Constantinidis, assistant to Calgary West Tory MP Rob Anders.

She asked Leslie his “professional opinion” on the recent conflict. “Where would you recommend us standing? What would you do troop-wise? Which side would you support, if any?”

“Every nation has a right to defend itself,” Leslie replied. “Every nation has the right to defend its people.”

Leslie warned against doing what your enemy wants you to do and said Hamas “wants Israel to, essentially, fall into the trap of igniting world opinion against them by killing civilians.”

Despite Hamas firing 2,700 rockets into Israel, only three people had been killed, Leslie continued. “They go in, they obviously get involved in the street fighting. Hamas throws more and more resources at it, and more casualties are caused by the Israelis using very heavy weapons systems, firing indiscriminately onto Palestinian women and children.”

“If I were advising the Israeli prime minister, I would say ‘Don’t send any ground troops until you really need to. Because you are just going to do that what your enemy wants you to do,” he added.

Asked what advice he’d give Trudeau if the Liberal leader were prime minister, Leslie, who served as deputy commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, said, “The Palestinian people are not the enemy. Hamas, absolutely.

“You’re talking to a guy who has hunted terrorists for quite some time. You gotta kill them, you gotta kill them. Hey, I’ve got no problems with that. But Palestinian women and children who are taking refuge in a UN-designated compounds?

“Come on. ‘Oh, it was an accident.’ Sorry, doesn’t matter to anyone. Shooting dumb artillery close to children is dumb.”

Oliver rejected Leslie’s characterization of the conflict. “Israel takes great precautions to protect civilians, while in contrast, Hamas deliberately puts innocent Palestinians in harm’s way and has hurled thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. Nevertheless, Mr. Leslie places blame on Israel for defending itself.”

He said Leslie and the Liberals “would rather criticize Israel, Canada’s ally and the only democracy in the Middle East.”

Commenting on Leslie’s statement, Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said, “We have met with Gen. Leslie previously. We know the general to be fully appreciative of the security challenges facing Israelis and shares our view as to Israel’s responsibility to defend itself and the destructive influence of Hamas. His choice of words regarding Israel’s tactics was unfortunate, and we look forward to meeting with him again to receive reassurances that his views are consistent with those articulated by Justin Trudeau.”