The Carney government largely failed to help Canadian citizens safely and quickly exit Israel as Iran began its deadly bombardment of civilian areas late last week, according to two evacuees.
Two Canadians who spent several days sheltering intermittently in bomb shelters say they found safe passage via Birthright, an organization that brings members of the Jewish diaspora to Israel on a 10-day sponsored trip to learn more about the country.
“The messaging has been all over the place,” Pe’er Krut told National Post. “What I can tell you for sure is that Birthright took it in their own hands completely to help Canadian students get out of Israel.”
Iran started lobbing rockets and missiles into Israel’s civilian areas on June 13, in response to Israel’s targeting of the Islamic regime’s military infrastructure.
Ottawa finally announced an evacuation plan on June 20 as Krut and others fled the Iranian bombs with Birthright’s help.
Hi @AnitaAnandMP
As you know, most countries operating diplomatic missions in Israel have been getting their citizens out for days now. As you also know it’s really not that complicated to mount an overland evacuation operation to Jordan. And as you should know, there are other… https://t.co/gEPGfdXEht— Vivian Bercovici (@VivianBercovici) June 21, 2025
Krut, a Torontonian in Jerusalem doing a legal internship over the summer, said she got word on June 16 from her program organizers,
Onward
— which falls under the umbrella of Birthright — that plans were in motion to evacuate her and others from Israel. Over the intervening days while the logistics were ironed out, Krut recalls spending hours running back and forth to a bomb shelter as Iranian missiles struck Israel.
“We were going up and down every few hours for a few days, it felt like I started to get to know every face, their personalities. People would bring food for the community. The same person would hold the door open for all the people in wheelchairs, the same baby would always be crying in the corner, comforted by some random other neighbour who would help out.”
On June 20, Krut boarded a cruise ship in Ashdod, a town just south of Tel Aviv, with hundreds of Birthright participants from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom bound for
Cyprus
. “We all signed waivers and they bussed us to the boat,” she said. “This is like a Mission Impossible escape plan, what they pulled off.”
The same day Krut left Israel, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand released a public
statement
explaining that the federal government had coordinated exit plans for Canadians wishing to leave the region.
A step in the right direction — but this should have happened immediately.
Waiting a week during an active war is unacceptable. We need a protocol that ensures an urgent, proactive plan of action the moment airspace closes and Canadians are at risk.
The embassy’s job is to… https://t.co/xlPzuaE4HT— Michelle Ferreri (@mferreriptbokaw) June 21, 2025
“I
n the coming hours, Canadians in Israel and the West Bank who have registered will receive details of land transportation options to a safe third country where commercial air transportation is available,” Anand wrote on X. “All those who requested assistance will receive the information directly.”
Global Affairs Canada acknowledged receipt of the Post’s request for comment on Sunday morning but had not provided a statement at the time of publication.
Krut called Anand’s handling of the situation “far too late” and was disheartened by the federal government for what she sees as its failure to actively assist Canadians trapped in the region. She compared it to American political leaders such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who
chartered
passenger flights and personally greeted evacuees at Tampa Bay’s airport on Friday.
“The Canadian government did not offer that same sort of support,” Krut told the Post by phone while sitting on the floor of the Frankfurt airport in Germany. “Birthright took on all of us Canadians simply out of goodwill.”
Lola O’Regan, a friend of Krut’s participating in the same internship program in Israel, also heard little about the Canadian government’s involvement in the evacuation plan and credited Birthright for its leadership during this precarious moment.
“As far as I’m aware, I don’t know how much the Canadian government was involved. I know there was a huge effort from Birthright to evacuate all of the people that were in Israel doing trips under the Birthright umbrella,” she said.
O’Regan also referenced the American efforts, specifically those of Governor DeSantis, helping bring Americans back stateside. “I am personally not aware of the Canadian government really stepping up to that same extent, but I definitely felt quite well taken care of by Birthright, and I’ve never doubted that they would get me home,” she said.
Their concerns were echoed on social media by prominent Canadians inside Israel, including former Peterborough Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri who is visiting Israel and said on X that “there has been absolutely no communication about an evacuation plan” as of June 19.
Another Conservative Party-connected critic, former Canadian ambassador to Israel Vivian Bercovici, said on X she’d been inundated with calls from Canadians looking for information and help because current Canadian officials weren’t providing them.
“Why are you leaving all these logistics to individuals … you are doing absolutely NOTHING to assist Canadians,” Bercovici, who is now a National Post columnist and lives in southern Israel, told Anand in an X post.
David Cooper, the vice president of government relations for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), told the Post in a written statement that the organization was working “on behalf of our Jewish Federation partners from across the country, has been in constant communication with Global Affairs Canada concerning the safe evacuation of Canadians from Israel.”
“Following our advocacy efforts to ensure safe transportation between Israel and Jordan, the Government of Canada has announced plans to assist with these efforts.”
O’Regan said that based on her conversations with others in Israel, most people were not interested in travelling across the country’s land border to either Egypt or Jordan for safety reasons and far preferred Cyprus. She said she had not been in touch with the Canadian government or embassy.
“I think now more than ever, it would be really comforting to feel as though Canadians have the back of Jewish people and Canadian citizens in Israel.”
Both O’Regan and Krut, who plan to be in Toronto for the summer, are looking for work after their internships fell through. While O’Regan was able to get a direct flight back to Canada, Krut is headed first to Iceland before ultimately arriving in Toronto late Sunday night
“Even though we ended up leaving, I’m really grateful for the experience,” Krut said.
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