Ottawa was cold, the politics colder. But inside a gathering of Israeli and Canadian government officials, parliamentarians, Christian leaders, and Jewish voices, something unmistakably warm was happening. On March 24–25, for the first time in its history, the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast (JPB) came to Canada, convening in the nation’s capital just one day after the 60th National Prayer Breakfast drew Prime Minister Mark Carney, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, and some 2,000 attendees to Rogers Centre. The timing was deliberate, and the message urgent.
With antisemitism surging across Canadian campuses and public squares, and with Canada-Israel relations strained in the post-October 7 political landscape, the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast Ottawa arrived as a much-needed faith-based counter-offensive.
The gathering evoked the verse in Psalms: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may those who love you be at peace.” (Psalms 122:6) The Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast took that command literally and made it global.
The JPB was founded and is chaired by former Knesset Member Robert Ilatov and co-chaired by former U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. It has taken its prayer model to Uganda, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ghana, the Netherlands, Finland, Brazil, the United States, and beyond. Canada is now on that list, and organizers made clear this inaugural gathering is meant to plant something permanent. The event launched an Annual Canada–Israel Day of Prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, a call for congregations across Canada to build what organizers described as “spiritual solidarity that transcends politics.”
Hosting the event was MP John Williamson of Saint John–St. Croix, who also serves as Chairman of the Canadian Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus, a caucus relaunched in 2023 with the explicit purpose of uniting Canadian parliamentarians behind the State of Israel and Canada’s Jewish community. “What brings us together this week is deeper than politics or public policy,” Williamson wrote in his official welcome. “It is faith. It is the belief that Jerusalem matters, that prayer matters, and that God hears us when we call.”
The confirmed parliamentary roster included MPs Andrew Lawton, Melissa Lantsman, and James Bezan, who were scheduled to speak. Also confirmed in attendance were MPs Rhonda Kirkland, Richard Bragdon, Kelly McCauley, Kelly DeRidder, Garnett Genuis, Tamara Kronis, Scott Aitchison, and Shuvaloy Majumdar. The Hon. Stockwell Day served as a special host.
As one of the most prominent Jewish voices in the Conservative Party, Lantsman has been among the most forceful critics of antisemitism in Parliament. Her participation signaled that this was a genuine Jewish-Christian coalition moment.
The conveners framed the event in explicitly covenantal terms. “For many Canadian Christians, their connection to Israel is theological and non-negotiable,” the organizing statement read. “A shared spiritual narrative can help restore long-term moral alignment between our nations.” The strategy is direct: governments shift with elections, but faith networks endure. The JPB is betting that the most durable bridge between Canada and Israel is not diplomatic but spiritual.
The National Prayer Breakfast, which concluded just as the JPB began, lent it additional gravity. At that event, MP Richard Bragdon, who also participated in the JPB, was publicly honored by Green Party leader Elizabeth May for his leadership of the weekly Wednesday prayer group that meets before parliamentary caucus sessions. “At these prayer breakfasts, we are a family, regardless of partisanship,” May said.
Organizers described the gathering as bringing together “Jewish leaders, Christian leaders, Indigenous faith voices, and other supportive communities in a spirit of unity and moral clarity”, with joint strategic statements against antisemitism forming part of the formal agenda.
For the Christians in that room, the theological stakes are straightforward. Psalm 122:6 is not metaphor or poetry; it is a divine instruction with a divine promise attached. The Sages teach that Jerusalem is the spiritual center of the world, the city about which God said, “I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to dwell there” (II Chronicles 6:6). When Christians rally around that reality, Jews take notice.
The first Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast in Canada was an important declaration of support for Israel in a country where Jewish students are harassed on campuses and Israeli flags are torn down at protests. Despite this disturbing wave of Jew-hatred, there remains a significant community of Canadians who understand that standing with Israel is a moral position and not just a political position.
