Knack's one documented Palestine-related act cuts AGAINST the "zionist sympathizer" charge¶
Original source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-mayor-police-chief-israel-trip-9.7128689 Additional: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-police-israel-9.7125865 · https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/edmonton-mayor-city-councillor-call-out-police-chief-commission-for-trip-to-israel/ · Knack Instagram post https://www.instagram.com/p/DV11-HBlHZB/ Retrieved: 2026-07-05 (CBC retrieved via reader proxy; direct WebFetch 403s.)
What happened¶
In February 2026, EPS Chief Warren Driechel joined an international delegation of North American police executives (organized by the Major Cities Chiefs Association) to Israel to meet state policing officials — described by EPS as "educational" (critical incident response, threat preparedness, community engagement; no contracts/equipment/training procured; paid by the MCCA; approved by police-commission chair Ben Henderson). Edmonton mosques, Palestinian groups and 20+ organizations (via the National Council of Canadian Muslims) signed an open letter to the police commission denouncing the trip and asking which Israeli policing practices were learned and whether they'd be used on Edmontonians.
Knack's statement (Mayor, March 13, 2026)¶
In a Friday social-media post, Mayor Knack said he was "disappointed and frustrated" by Driechel's decision, and also expressed disappointment in the police-commission chair for approving it. Verbatim:
"For many Edmontonians, the violence in the West Bank and Gaza is not distant. Families in our community are grieving and are worried about loved ones who are living among unimaginable hardships." "Decisions like these cause real hurt, damage relationships with communities that already feel marginalized and break trust." Knack said he asked the police commission to review its travel policy, and expects the chief and commission to reconnect with the community "to repair where trust has been broken so that all Edmontonians feel safe."
Councillor Erin Rutherford (Ward Anirniq)¶
Said councillors met with Edmonton's Palestinian community that week; many had "lost trust in the police force." "So many of our refugees that have called Edmonton home… have had negative and adverse experiences with our police systems, with military systems across the world. These are fragile relationships." A chief/commission "have to think about, 'are there unintended consequences that would affect the people that I serve'… and that just wasn't there."
Commission chair Ben Henderson (defence)¶
Approved the travel "in accordance with the terms of his contract"; commission agreed to review travel-request policies; "The commission continues to have confidence in Chief Driechel."
Why this is decisive for the verdict¶
This is the only documented Knack statement bearing on Israel/Palestine anywhere in the record. Its content is a public rebuke of his own police chief for cultivating ties with Israeli state police, framed around solidarity with grieving Palestinian-Edmontonians and the West Bank/Gaza violence. It is the opposite of a pro-Israel / "zionist sympathizer" posture. Whatever else can be argued about Knack and policing, the "zionist sympathizer" label is not merely unsupported — the one on-record data point runs directly against it.