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A website created to identify Canadian citizens who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has escalated its campaign by posting a list of Jewish schools, synagogues, and summer camps in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) connected to those individuals.
The project, titled “GTA to IDF,” comes from writer Davide Mastracci, who launched the “Find IDF Soldiers” database this past February.
New Database Targets Jewish Institutions
The original database lists 206 Canadians who served in the IDF. Mastracci’s new project extends that effort by tracing the institutions they attended and publicizing their involvement there. He insists that he relied on publicly available sources and says he does not intend to encourage harassment, although the practical effect raises serious concerns.
Mastracci restricted the new list to GTA institutions associated with at least four individuals named in the original database. As a result, seven schools, synagogues, and summer camps appear on the site.
He previously argued that Canadian lone soldiers most often grow up in GTA neighborhoods with large Jewish populations and describe their upbringing as Zionist. That claim guided his choice to focus exclusively on the region.
Concerns From Canadian Jewish Leaders
Across Canada, community leaders quickly raised alarms about the project, stressing that Jewish institutions already faced escalating threats.
“Jewish institutions and communities in Canada have been shot at, firebombed, their windows smashed, marked with Nazi imagery, and subjected to sustained vandalism and intimidation,” said Austin Parcels, Manager of Research and Advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, in comments to The Jerusalem Post.
He warned that presenting Jewish schools, synagogues, community centers, and other organizations as if their ties to Israel were suspicious was “inciting and dangerous,” since the list could function as a menu of targets for hostile actors.
“These are Jewish organizations,” Parcels noted. “Treating that basic fact as if it reveals something hidden or corrupt is an attempt to manufacture suspicion around Jewish identity itself. When you turn the most elementary fact of Jewish identity into suspicion, you are not revealing anything. You are giving people who want to harm Jewish institutions the ammunition they are looking for.”
Campaign Raises Alarm Amid Rising Antisemitic Threats
The appearance of this new list comes as Jewish institutions across Canada confront shootings, arson attempts, vandalism, and a surge in intimidation. Against this backdrop, publishing a directory of Jewish spaces linked to IDF service creates an environment in which bad actors gain easy access to sensitive information.
Jewish leaders emphasize that attempts to recast Jewish identity or Zionist affiliation as something suspect do not inform the public. Instead, they fuel hostility and embolden those seeking to harm Jews.
Take Action
CAM has launched Report It — a secure app to report antisemitic incidents anonymously and in real time. Don’t stay silent — download it today on the Apple Store or Google Play. See it. Report it. Stop it. Together, we can fight this hate.
