We have learned that Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King, an extremist Israeli settler and anti-Palestinian racist, has been invited to speak in Toronto on August 25.
King is directly responsible for illegal efforts to dispossess Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, and replace them with settlers, which is a war crime. He is an open racist, wanting “maximum Jews to own maximum land” and who calls Palestinians “natural swindlers.” He was investigated by police and condemned by the European Union for inciting violence and terror against the UN aid agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). In 2022, he attended a commemoration for Meir Kahane, an extremist Israeli politician who supported racial segregation and deporting Arabs, and who founded the Kach Party which is a designated terrorist entity in Canada.
Moreover, the event is being hosted by Meir Weinstein, a self-described “loyal disciple” of Kahane who co-founded the Canadian chapter of the Jewish Defence League (JDL), a racist organization that has been described by the FBI as a “right-wing terrorist group” with a history of violence against Arabs, Palestinians, and others.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are currently facing a severe crisis of violence and terror at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers. Over the last two years, Canada has imposed sanctions against over 30 Israeli settler extremist individuals and entities for actions similar to King’s, and banned them from travelling to Canada. Canada must apply the same standards to King.
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Arieh King is the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, a settler activist, and an anti-Palestinian extremist. As first reported by independent journalist Samira Mohyeddin, King has been invited to speak in Toronto on Tuesday, August 25. The event is reportedly being presented by “Israel Now,” led by Meir Weinstein.
Visitors to Canada may be deemed inadmissible and barred from entering the country for a number of reasons, including: violence or terrorism, or membership in an organization involved in these; human or international rights violations, including war crimes; or for committing a crime. Based on these criteria, there are significant grounds for Canada to bar his entry.
Through his organization the Israel Land Fund, King has directly contributed to the growth of the illegal settlement enterprise and the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes. He is best known for “settling Jews in East Jerusalem and evicting Palestinian families from the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.” Settlements are war crimes under Canadian law.
King’s advocacy over the years has been based on explicitly racist aims.
- King has supported initiatives that would “help” non-Jews emigrate from Israel, declaring that “It is more important to me that the country be Jewish than democratic.”
- King has described his advocacy as “We want maximum Jews to own maximum land.”
- Even the Jerusalem Post had to note his racism, as he said about Arabs, “they are natural swindlers, it is part of their culture to lie.”
King has incited violence and terror against humanitarian aid organizations, including the UN aid agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).
- In 2026, he said: “With god’s help, in the great battle for all of the Land of Israel, we will drive out, annihilate, kill, and eliminate all the people of UNRWA.”
- In 2024, he was questioned by police “on suspicion of inciting violence and terror” after posting a photo of an arson attack on UNRWA headquarters and referencing its other locations, saying “There is no place for the enemy in our holy city.” At the time, his statements were also condemned by the European Union for “appear[ing] to incite further attacks against diplomatic premises.”
- He has also supported extremist attacks on humanitarian convoys to Gaza.
King also has ties to the extremist far-right.
- In 2013, he ran for the Israeli Knesset as part of the far-right list Otzma leYisrael (Strength to Israel) alongside Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is now sanctioned by Canada for supporting violence against Palestinians.
- In 2022 he reportedly attended a commemoration for Meir Kahane, founder of Israel’s Kach party who supported racial segregation and called for deporting Arabs. Kach has been designated by Canada as a terrorist entity.
- Notably, the Toronto event is advertised as presented by Meir Weinstein’s organization “Israel Now.” Weinstein co-founded and led the Canadian branch of the Jewish Defence League (JDL), a racist organization that has been described by the FBI as a “right-wing terrorist group” with a history of violence against Arabs, Palestinians, and others. It was disbanded in 2021, but Weinstein now appears to be trying to revive the initiative under the title of “New Jewish Defense Force.” Weinstein openly identifies as a “loyal disciple” of Meir Kahane and has posted dozens of times in the last few years that “Kahane Was Right.”
As a leading participant in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise who has promulgated anti-Palestinian racism and has been investigated for inciting violence and terror, Arieh King’s actions demonstrably render him ineligible to enter Canada. Instead, there are compelling grounds that he should be added to Canada’s list of sanctioned settler extremists. Join us in telling Canada to stop this event from moving forward.