Alan Dershowitz Wants to Use Tariffs to Teach Canada a Lesson

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz recently ignited a firestorm by declaring that “our enemy now is Canada” over Ottawa’s recognition of the State of Palestine and its pledge to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking at the Rage Against Hate conference on Oct. 27, 2025, at Manhattan’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, Dershowitz urged President Donald Trump to take punitive action—including tariffs and potential sanctions—against America’s northern neighbor.

The event, organized by the Shurat HaDin–Israel Law Center, featured high-profile figures such as former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Australian broadcaster Erin Molan, Arab-Israeli influencer Yoseph Haddad, and Anne Bayefsky of Human Rights Voices. During his remarks, Dershowitz dismissed pro-Palestinian activism as “pro-hate” and claimed that “every element within the Palestinian movement has encouraged terrorism.”

“We have to understand who our enemies are,” Dershowitz told Canada’s National Post. “And our enemy now is Canada.” He added that he was “in favor of Trump putting tariffs on Canada for its statements regarding Israel and Netanyahu, and even sanctions perhaps.” 

Canada’s Recognition of Palestine

The remarks came in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to officially recognize the State of Palestine during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2025—making Canada the first G7 country to do so. The move was coordinated with similar recognitions by the United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal, and several other European countries.

Carney justified the recognition by stating that Israel’s government “has pursued an unrelenting policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank, which is illegal under international law,” and that “its sustained assault in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of civilians, displaced well over one million people, and caused a devastating and preventable famine.” He concluded that Canada recognized Palestine to preserve the two-state solution and to offer “our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future.”

Dershowitz, however, dismissed the move as “recognition of a nonexistent entity.” He also condemned Canada’s pledge to enforce the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, declaring, “I will come up to Canada. I will defend Netanyahu, and I will go after everybody who has tried to arrest him.”

Fallout Between Ottawa and Washington

Following Carney’s announcement, Israel’s embassy in Canada condemned the decision, claiming it “only rewards Hamas and its sympathizers.” The fallout also drew attention in Washington, where Trump quickly weaponized the issue.

In the early hours of July 31, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh’ Canada!!!”

At the time, U.S. and Canadian negotiators were racing to meet an August 1 deadline for a new trade agreement. Trump threatened to impose a 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods outside the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement if no deal was reached.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined the criticism, calling Western recognitions of Palestine “counterproductive.” “None of these countries have the ability to create a Palestinian state,” Rubio said. “There can be no Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to it.”

Dershowitz’s Pattern of Provocative Rhetoric

Dershowitz’s denunciation of Canada fits a long-established pattern of inflammatory defenses of Israel. A staunch Zionist and lifelong advocate for Jewish interests, he has repeatedly equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism and justified extreme military actions against Palestinians.

In May 2024, he compared anti-Israel college protesters to Hitler Youth, claiming that “Nazi students blocked Jews from entering universities” in a manner similar to campus activism in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attacks. Earlier, he defended Israel’s 2002 Operation Defensive Shield by asserting there was “no evidence that Israeli soldiers deliberately killed even a single civilian,” despite Human Rights Watch findings documenting 22 civilian deaths, some of which constituted war crimes.

In May 2025, Dershowitz told an audience at Harvard’s Institute of Politics that “killing innocent civilians in Gaza might be necessary as part of a cost-benefit analysis.” He later wrote an essay titled “The ‘Better’ Civilians of Gaza” arguing that many Palestinians were “complicit” and thus “legitimate targets.”

His version of a two-state solution further underscores his worldview: “The only two-state solution that’s possible is to have a state without an army, without an air force and with security controlled by Israel for maybe 50 years, maybe 100 years.”

A Broader Trend Toward Annexation?

Dershowitz’s attacks on Ottawa echo a broader shift in U.S. political culture, where even allies face coercion when they deviate from Washington’s—and by extension, Israel’s—foreign policy priorities. The rhetoric mirrors Donald Trump’s veiled threats to make Canada “the 51st state,” as well as growing speculation about a revived North American Union under U.S. dominance.

In a land where Zionists are in control, all foreign policy decisions—no matter how trivial they seem—will be carried out with Zionist interests in mind. Any government that dares stray even slightly will be taught, in short order, the price of defying the pan-Judah imperium.