On May 27, we released a call to action: Tell David Suzuki and the Suzuki Foundation to Stop Greenwashing Israel’s Crimes. Suzuki was scheduled to speak at the Climate Solutions Prize (CSP) Festival in Montreal, happening June 8-9, 2026. CSP was instigated by the racist Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Canada with support from the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet announced the launch of CSP five years ago and Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented the inaugural prize for an initiative described as “a way for Israel to become a global hub for green tech.”

Suzuki and the Foundation heard us. Over 2,400 people sent a letter demanding Suzuki withdraw from the event, and he did. But that is not all that was requested. We also highlighted the Foundation’s connections to pro-Israel donors. Stephen Bronfman has been on the board of the Suzuki Foundation for 30 years. Bronfman’s foundation — the Claudine And Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation — has donated over $8.2 million to the Suzuki Foundation since 2000. Note, in our previous post we said nearly $6.1 million. However, after reviewing the Bronfman Foundation’s reports more closely, we identified over $2 million more that was listed without an accurate business number. The figure may be as high as $8.5 million. A $265,500 donation is listed as going to “The David Suzuki Foundation, however the business number listed is for a separate charity (867322331RR0001).

Stephen Bronfman is part of the famous Bronfman family who has close ties to Israel and has shown consistent support for the Israeli settler-colonial, apartheid regime. He is connected with Birthright Israel, an organization co-founded by his father in 1994. One of Stephen Bronfman’s own charities — the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation – has donated over $23 million to charities involved in the Canada to Israel Charity Pipeline. This includes over $16 million to Federation CJA, over $2.5 million to Birthright Israel, and nearly $2 million to the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal. Bronfman also has significant tech investments in Israel. Le Caisse previously had a joint venture with Bronfman’s company Claridge (Claridge Israel) but wanted out after pressure from the Palestine solidarity movement.

Recipients of Funds from the Bronfman Foundation from 2000 to 2024

Donors to the Bronfman Foundation from 2003 to 2025

The Suzuki Foundation has also received significant funding from the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal and the Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation, two pro-Israel charities that support Israel’s illegal occupation. Bronfman is also a Director at the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal. Three other charities, of which Bronfman is a board member, have donated over $80,000 to the Suzuki Foundation.

As former Vancouver city councillor and chair of journalism at Langara College, Anne Roberts wrote in response to Suzuki’s withdrawal:

“I do appreciate David Suzuki’s swift cancellation of speaking engagement at the Jewish National Fund Canada. But that’s not the main problem that has been exposed here. I was shocked to find out that wealthy Zionists like Jeff Hart and Stephen Bronfman have been on the Suzuki Foundation board for past 20 and 30 years, raising money that has been used to greenwash Israel’s racist colonialist polices since its founding and now continuing genocide in Gaza. I hope that members of the Foundation take this opportunity to examine the source of its funding. After all, war, particularly the war in Gaza and Lebanon, is a terrible loss of life and contributor to climate change.”

We have emailed the Suzuki Foundation to request a meeting to discuss this further. It is not enough to cancel one speaking event. The Foundation’s ties to donors who actively support Israel’s Crimes are not neutral. The impact of Israel’s genocide and ongoing illegal occupation on the Palestinian people is too immense for words. The impact of Israel’s actions on the earth and climate are grave. Not just because they exacerbate climate change, but because they (intentionally) make Palestine unlivable, as another method of ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and genocide. We ask the Foundation to take real action and end ties with all individuals and organizations supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people.