(JTA) –  Canada’s just-elected Liberal government will stop making Israel a partisan issue, the country’s new foreign affairs minister said. Stephane Dion, a former leader of the Liberal Party, said Canada can help Israel more by returning to its role as an “honest broker” and improving relations with other Middle East nations than continuing the staunchly pro-Israel policies of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Justin Trudeau defeated Harper in the Oct. 19 federal election. “The main difference is that we will stop making it a partisan issue,” Dion told the news website iPolitics.ca in an interview published Nov. 4. “Israel is a friend, it is an ally, but for us to be an effective ally, we need also to strengthen our relationship with the other legitimate partners in the region.” He continued, “For example, we need to strengthen our relationship with Lebanon, and this will help Lebanon but also Israel. To be helpful, you need to strengthen your relationship with the other legitimate partners, and that is what we will do.” Prior to being sworn in, Trudeau reached out to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA, to reaffirm his support for Israel and his willingness to discuss broader social issues, the Canadian Jewish News reported. CIJA chair David Cape described the 10-minute phone call on Monday as “very warm and very friendly.”

CAP: Aug 26, 2008 Stephane Dion at press conference in Fairmont Royal York Hotel. (Photo by Michael Stuparyk/Toronto Star via Getty Images)