An anti-Israel protest outside a debate on
featuring prominent Israelis turned ugly on Wednesday, with two activists arrested and two others removed from Toronto’s Meridian Hall.
The event was part of the Munk Debates, a series of debates led by the “brightest thinkers” about “big issues of the day,” and featured prominent Israelis — former Israeli ambassador the U.S. Michael Oren and former Israeli minister of interior Ayelet Shaked, who were against a two-state solution. It also featured former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Israel’s former justice and foreign minister and former chief peace negotiator Tzipi Livni, who were in support of a two-state solution.
Despite the protest and some interruptions, chair and moderator of the Munk Debates Rudyard Griffiths said the event unfolded safely. “I felt that last night was a victory for sanity in this city, that we can have difficult conversations on difficult issues, where people disagree. But we can do that with with civility and substance, right? And we can move forward with events like this, despite the intimidation and threats directed towards our organization,” he told National Post.
The debate drew a crowd of masked protesters carrying Palestinian flags and holding up signs. One of the many signs said, “The world hates Israel,” as shown in videos posted on social media. Another
, “Honk 4 Gaza.”
One protester carried a megaphone and a Palestinian flag. As seen in the video, he shouted at people walking down the street: “Devil-worshipping Zionists! Go to hell. Go back to the slums of Europe!”
Demonstrator holding a Palestinian flag shouts into a megaphone as he follows people down the sidewalk:
“Devil-worshipping Zionists! Go to hell, go back to the slums of Europe.”
One Israeli man turns around and is told, “You aren’t even Semitic, you a—hole.”
He walks away… pic.twitter.com/v8OEhUePhM
— Caryma Sa’d – Lawyer + Political Satirist (@CarymaRules) December 4, 2025
During the protest, one man was arrested for assaulting a peace officer, attempting to disarm an officer, criminal harassment and uttering death threats just after 9:40 p.m. at Yonge and Front streets, police said.
A woman was arrested for criminal harassment.
Two people who made it inside the venue were removed from the event itself for causing a disturbance, Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer told National Post. A trespass charge was laid against one of them.
“We support the protesters’ right to free speech and to exercise whatever they want to say, as long as it’s done lawfully. It’s a shame that clearly, for some people, they decided that their behaviour would not be within the law last night,” said Griffiths.
“There were a couple disturbances in the hall during the event, but they were professionally and effectively and quickly dealt with by the Meridian Hall staff, with assistance from the Toronto Police Services.”
A
posted on social media by lawyer and independent journalist Caryma Sa’d showed a scuffle between Toronto police officers and protesters. Another
, also by Sa’d, showed a protester chanting “War criminals!” while others yelled back, “Arrest them!” in reference to the participants of the debate.
WATCH:
Police shove protesters off the street outside Meridian Hall.
The demonstration opposes the Munk debate on a two-state solution, which features only Israeli politicians.
📸 Dec 3, 2025#Toronto #ProtestMania pic.twitter.com/XVKvBMEubL
— Caryma Sa’d – Lawyer + Political Satirist (@CarymaRules) December 4, 2025
Those opposing the Munk debate were upset over allowing prominent Israelis to take part in it, referring to them as “war criminals.” Anti-Israel group Toronto4Palestine
with other groups, calling for an emergency rally at Meridian Hall on Wednesday. They also called for the event to be cancelled.
“For many Israelis a two-state solution is the only viable path to a lasting peace, stability in the region and renewed legitimacy for the Jewish state internationally,” the webpage for the
. “Others assert the attack of October 7 and two years of regional war have made Israel’s national security, now and into the future, irreconcilable with Palestinian statehood.”
On Thursday, Shaked
in a post on X that the debate was held “under heavy security.”
“Outside, demonstrations took place. Inside the hall, some useful idiots shouted, but overall, people listened and wanted to learn,” she said.
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