WARMINGTON: Walk With Israel support 'overwhelming' after 'record-breaking' turnout

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For tens of thousands, this was the annual Walk With Israel, which is always a special day on the calendar.

But it was extra special this year.

That might explain why Toronto has never seen a turnout like this. There was a sea of blue and white heading north from Lawrence Ave. along Bathurst St. to Sheppard Ave.

“It is definitely the largest ever,” said Naomi Parness, a former news reporter who has done a stellar job of communications to bridge the Jewish community with the media since the Oct. 7, 2023, slaughter, when Hamas attacked Israel.

The UJA Federation of Greater Toronto estimated that about 50,000 people took part in the walk, the most in 55 years.

“We are thrilled by the overwhelming support for the walk this year from our community and our friends and neighbours across Greater Toronto,” chair Jeff Rosenthal said. “To see a record-breaking turnout this year speaks volumes about our community’s pride, resilience and determination to show our city who we are and what we stand for. It was especially encouraging to see many people from different faiths and cultures walking with us.”

Adam Minsky, the president and CEO of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, said the event was a “powerful demonstration that we have many allies who stand with us in support of democracy, freedom and the right of Israelis and our Jewish community to live in peace and security.

“At a time of unprecedented hate directed against the Jewish community in Toronto,” he said, “today’s record-breaking walk sends a clear message that we are strong, united and proud.”

This, however, was a unique event because of the counter-protest that organizers called the “Walk Against Israel.”

“Some of the families of Hamas hostages had to walk through,” where they were protesting, Parness said.

It was difficult for them. While there is a jubilant mood that four of the hostages were recently rescued, it’s not lost on their families that there are more than 120 hostages still being held.

The rescue offers a beacon of hope that more hostages can be found.

“And found alive,” said one woman, who added that she goes to this event every year. “Now we believe it can and will happen.”

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This rescue was bad news for those hoping for a ceasefire or an end to the conflict between Israel and Gaza. This dramatic rescue, which saw casualties on both sides, has breathed new life into the resolve of those who want to rid Gaza of Hamas altogether.

While this walk was largely positive in message and peaceful in action, the dislike from those who support the Palestinian cause and those who are pro-Israel was on full display here.

Sometimes it got hot.

First was what Parness described as people walking with their families having to go through people with covered faces carrying signs accusing Israel of genocide and yelling, “From the river to the sea.”

As they passed, the Israeli walkers were chanting, “Bring them home, bring them home.”

In the middle and keeping the two sides separated were hundreds of police officers not just from Toronto, but from the OPP and York and Peel regions, too.

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw and deputy chief Lauren Pogue deserve a heck of a lot of credit because from my vantage point, no one got hurt. There were several minor arrests and a couple of times when tempers flared, for sure.

The most notable was when some pro-Palestinian protesters snuck around some buildings and managed to breach an area north of Sheppard, where mostly Jewish families were standing.

Police quickly intervened.

It was close to having some real trouble, but police were able to defuse things. Considering the potential, this turned out to be an event that went off without any major issues.