Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Israel on a state visit on Sunday. His delegation included 15 Conservative Party parliamentarians and cabinet ministers, as well as 208 cultural, business and religious leaders along with members of Canada’s Jewish community. He was accorded a hero’s welcome for being “a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people” at the commencement of his tour of the Middle East, which will include visits to the West Bank and Jordan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Harper as a friend for combating anti-Semitism and taking a strong stand against Iran.

At the official welcoming ceremony, Netanyahu remarked, “I have to say, Stephen, that you are a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people. I’m not just saying that. I mean that deeply from the bottom of my heart, and I speak for all of the people of Israel.”

Mr. Harper traveled under heavy security to Ramallah in the West Bank, where he met with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Since the Palestinians’ bid at the United Nations last year for observer-state status, a move Canada attempted to block, relations between the two men have been strained. During the half-hour meeting, Harper offered $66 million (cad) in aid to the Palestinians, but refused to “‘single out the state of Israel for criticism.’”

Prime Minister Harper also became the first Canadian leader in history to address the Israeli Knesset. During his address, Harper spoke of the long ties enjoyed by Canada and Israel, emphasizing that both nations shared the same democratic values. He accused Israel’s Western critics of moral relativism: “People who would never say they hate and blame the Jews for their own failings, or the problems of the world, instead declare their hatred of Israel and blame the only Jewish state for the problems of the Middle East.”

Harper criticized leaders of civil societies who “call Israel an apartheid state.”

A state, based on freedom, democracy and the rule of law, that was founded so Jews can flourish as Jews, and seek shelter from the shadow of the worst racist experiment in history that is condemned and it is condemned in the masked language of anti-racism. Friends, that is nothing short of sickening …. But this is the face of the new anti-Semitism. It targets the Jewish people by targeting Israel and attempts to make the old bigotry acceptable for a new generation.

During the address, two Arab-Israeli members of the Knesset began heckling him. After the hecklers stormed out, Mr. Harper was given a standing ovation.

Canada’s support of Israel is crucial at this juncture in history. Stephen Flurry’s article “Band of Brothers” highlights the once vibrant, close-knit relationship between Great Britain, the United States and Israel—a relationship that has deteriorated dramatically. The erosion of that brotherhood was prophesied in Zechariah 11:14. While Canada is currently a strong ally of the beleaguered State of Israel, expect that relationship to deteriorate as well. Order your copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy to learn how that relationship came to be and what will be the consequences of its breakup.