A proposal to appoint Liberal MP Anthony Housefather to a new role fighting antisemitism — which has been in the works for weeks — has been held up by concerns about divisions in the government caucus over the Israel-Hamas war, CBC News has learned.
And sources who spoke to CBC News — including one caucus member — are asking how Housefather’s role would differ from the work of Deborah Lyons, the special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism.
The proposed appointment came after Housefather, a Montreal MP, publicly discussed leaving the Liberal Party in March. He spent weeks mulling his future with the party after almost the entire caucus helped to pass an NDP motion criticizing Israel’s conduct in its conflict with Hamas. He ultimately decided to stay in caucus.
The government has been accused by Jewish groups of not being supportive enough of Israel, though it has …