TORONTO — The streets of central Toronto pulsed with Israeli and Persian tunes on Sunday as 60,000 people converged to demonstrate solidarity with Israel and Canada’s Jewish community.

In response to surging Jew-hatred that has darkened Toronto over the last several months, a diverse crowd chose to march with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s 57th Walk with Israel. Despite sometimes violent counter-protests on the march’s sidelines, this year’s walk attracted 4,000 more participants than last year, making it one of the largest public demonstrations of support for Israel in the world.

“We’re not afraid of anything, in spite of all the antisemitism that’s been going down, specifically here in Toronto,” said participant Shai Klein. “It gives us that much more reason to be here today and show that we’re not going to back down in the face of hatred, and that we’re going to show our pride. And we’re not leaving Toronto and Canada. We’re going to be proud Jews here and support the State of Israel no matter what.”

Jewish participants in the roughly four-kilometer (two-and-a-half-mile) walk, along the heavily Jewish areas of Wilson Avenue and Bathurst Street, told The Times of Israel they were there to clearly state their deep connection to their ancestral homeland and their belief in its sovereignty and right to self-defense.

They were joined by many other walkers from an array of backgrounds, including members of the Christian, Persian, Hindu, White, Black, Asian, Filipino and Indian communities. All approached by The Times of Israel said they attended the march in support of the Jewish state and to speak out against the anti-Zionist hate that is endangering Jews worldwide.

This year, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, a nonprofit organization, raised CAD 650,000 ($466,000) for the walk, which fell short of the $780,000 ($560,000) target it set in honor of Israel’s 78th birthday, and was notably less than the CAD 1.4 million ($1 million) it raised last year. All of the money supports humanitarian initiatives in Israel that provide mental health, physical recovery and trauma care services, and aid to evacuees.

The demonstration had an air of particular urgency, coming as antisemitic hate crimes have risen to the highest levels seen in Canada since World War II following the bloody Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war against the ruling terror organization in Gaza.

Canada’s anti-Zionist movement has gained unprecedented traction, universities are increasingly hostile to Israel, synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses are vandalized with alarming frequency, and antisemitic violence is at an all-time high.

According to the latest Toronto police data, Jews are targeted by 82% of religiously motivated hate crimes. Nationally, B’nai Brith Canada recently released a report documenting 6,800 incidents of antisemitism in 2025, the highest volume since it began gathering this data in 1982 — a........

© The Times of Israel