Legal Complaint Filed Against Real Estate Firms for Marketing Illegal Israeli Settlement Properties in Palestine as “Dream Homes in Israel”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCTOBER 21, 2026 07:00 AM EDT
Contact: media@globalecho.law
Legal Complaint Filed Against Real Estate Firms for Marketing Illegal Israeli Settlement Properties in Palestine as “Dream Homes in Israel”
Canadian Citizens Demand Inquiry by Competition Bureau in First Known Legal Challenge to Illegal and Deceptive Marketing of Israeli Settlement Real Estate
Ottawa, October 21, 2026 – Today, a group of Canadians filed a complaint with Canada’s Commissioner of Competition alleging that companies exhibiting at Israeli real estate events in Canada have consistently and falsely advertised homes located in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as if they are located within the State of Israel. The complaint alleges that companies used various slogans, such as “Find Your Dream Home in Israel,” to advertise homes in West Bank settlements, creating the impression that they were located in Israel. Palestinians are generally prohibited from entering settlement areas without special permission, while Israeli settlers and foreigners are free to move and live there.
The complaint is brought by Global Echo Litigation Center and Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), following an investigation of the marketing practices of five companies that exhibited at real estate events in Montreal and Toronto, both situated on the traditional territory of Indigenous Peoples. These events include “The Great Israeli Real Estate Event” of March 2024 and the “Israel Real Estate Briefing” of April 2026. The five companies—Tivuch Shelly, Noam Homes, Meny Group, Effi Capital, and Cohen Group—are named in the complaint as representative examples of a broader alleged pattern of false advertisement of settlement properties. If the complaint is successful, the companies could be fined, obliged to publish corrections, and/or face additional penalties aimed at deterring similar violations in the future.
The 130-page complaint was filed by six Canadians, primarily from Palestinian and Jewish communities, who have asked the Commissioner of Competition to initiate a formal inquiry into this alleged widespread practice and determine whether it contravenes Canadian consumer protection law. Canada maintains that all Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal under both Canadian and international law and an obstacle to peace. The complaint alleges that falsely advertising these properties as “Israeli” misleads Canadian consumers and violates Canada’s standards for honesty, transparency, and fairness in advertising under the Competition Act.
“If these companies are using false advertising to undermine Canadian and international law, and violate the rights of Palestinians, then action needs to be taken,” said Marlee Wasser, one of the six complainants. “The Competition Bureau must fulfil its mandate to protect Canadian consumers and the ethical standards of our marketplace, or risk losing Canadians’ trust.”
For example, the complaint alleges that at a Montreal event on March 5, 2024, Israeli real estate company Tivuch Shelly displayed a banner reading, “Find Your Dream Home in Israel” (see Figure 1 below). Alongside properties located in Israel, the complaint alleges that the banner advertised properties for sale in Adam and Ma’ale Adumim, both illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to the complaint, one of those developments, the Adam Project, was developed by a subsidiary of Amana. On June 27, 2024, the Government of Canada sanctioned Amana under the Special Economic Measures (Extremist Settler Violence) Regulations. The complainants argue that the identity of entities responsible for developing settlement projects may itself constitute material information that Canadian consumers are entitled to know before deciding whether to purchase property.
The complaint further alleges that at many of these events, the other four named companies similarly promoted properties situated in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Efrat, Gush Etzion, Sha’arei Tikva, and Givat HaMatos, as being located in Israel. For example, the complaint alleges that:
- Noam Homes promoted itself as “Your Real Estate Agency in Jerusalem” while advertising projects in six locations, four of which—Efrat, Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim and Mitzpe Yaricho—are illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. On its website, properties in Giv’at Ze’ev are advertised as being located in “Giv’at Ze’ev, Israel.”
- The Meny Group promoted its “Aliyah Program” beneath a map of “Greater Israel” that erased the distinction between Israel and the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, presenting them as a single territory, while advertising homes for sale in settlements including Sha’are Tikva and Mevo Modi’im.
- Cohen Group and Effi Capital invited buyers to “Own a Piece of Jerusalem” in Givat Bereshit, which is located in Givat HaMatos—an Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, which Cohen Group’s website describes as being located in “Givat Hamatos, Jerusalem, Israel.” Givat HaMatos has been criticized as a strategic settlement project backed by the Israeli government in order to further isolate the Palestinian neighbourhood of Beit Safafa from Bethlehem and undermine the territorial continuity needed for East Jerusalem to serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
- Tivuch Shelly distributed brochures marketing the “Shirat Ziyon” development in Adam-Givat Binyamin. The brochure does not clarify that the project is not located within Israel.
- All five companies continue to advertise settlement properties on their websites to this day.
Comment was sought from all five companies, but no responses were received.
The six complainants allege that these false representations erode public trust and undermine Canada’s longstanding commitment to international law. They argue that unless such practices are addressed, Canadian consumers may not only be misled about the ethical implications of purchasing settlement property, but also its potential legal implications under Canadian and international law.
“As the complaint alleges, by appearing to promote properties in Israeli settlements as if they were in Israel, these real estate companies may have misled Canadian consumers and risked making them complicit in Israel’s ongoing violations of international law,” said Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man, Founder and Executive Director of Global Echo Litigation Center, which is representing the complainants alongside CLAIHR. “Both Canada and companies operating on its soil must heed their obligations under international law. The International Court of Justice has deemed Israel’s settlement expansion and occupation illegal and called on all states to ensure they—and the corporate entities under their jurisdiction—do not in any way contribute to their continuation.”
The complaint comes two years after the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful. It said Israel must immediately cease all new settlement activity and evacuate settlers from settlements in the territory. Canada formally recognized the State of Palestine on September 21, 2025. The complainants argue that this makes it particularly egregious for properties in settlements on occupied land to be marketed to Canadians as ordinary real estate. Furthermore, on August 21, 2026, the Government of Canada issued an advisory to Canadian businesses “against engaging in economic and financial activities associated with Israeli settlements,” including but not limited to “investments, financial transactions, procurement, purchases and tourism linked to settlement activities.”
“As the Canadian government has cautioned, dealing in these illegal properties entails serious potential consequences for purchasers under both domestic and international law,” said James Yap, President of CLAIHR, which is supporting this complaint alongside Global Echo. “Particularly in light of the government’s clear warning, we believe such material information must be included when marketing these properties.”
The complaint also alleges that selling property in illegal Israeli settlements to consumers abroad forms part of a broader political strategy to encourage new foreign residents to help expand settlements in the West Bank, thereby contributing to the entrenchment of the illegal occupation and annexation of Palestinian land and undermining the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
The complainants call on the Competition Bureau to investigate these concerns and, if the allegations are substantiated, act to put a stop to this type of deception of Canadian consumers that risks not only breaching their rights but furthering corporate impunity for violations of international law in Canada and worldwide.
The complainants also note that when illegal Israeli settlement properties are marketed in Canada, these activities occur within the traditional territory of Indigenous Peoples who continue to assert their own land rights on Turtle Island. Montreal is situated on unceded Indigenous lands historically stewarded by the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, and Toronto rests on traditional territory bound by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Covenant and Treaty 13.
For interviews or additional information, please contact media@globalecho.law.
Figure 1: Tivuch Shelly’s stand at the Montreal stop of the Great Israeli Real Estate Event on March 5, 2024.
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