A simple apology may get Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff off the hook with some voters, but it won't earn him back the support of his Toronto campaign co-chair.
Thornhill MP Susan Kadis withdrew her support for Ignatieff Wednesday after he made comments suggesting Israel committed a "war crime" during its attacks on Lebanon.
"Michael is an intelligent person and I would think that he would have a better handle on the Middle East given his years of experience on human rights and international law," Kadis said in a written statement.
The controversial comments were made during Ignatieff's appearance on a French-language television program Sunday when he referred to the dozens of civilian deaths in the Lebanese town of Qana as victims of a "war crime."
It's not the first time the Liberal leadership hopeful has been down this road.
Last summer, Ignatieff said he was "not losing sleep" over the civilian deaths in Qana - an insensitive remark he later admitted was a mistake.
In a somewhat clumsy apology, Ignatieff added Sunday that he should have shown more compassion for the Qana victims.
"I was a professor of human rights and I am also a professor of the laws of war and what happened in Qana was a war crime and I should have said that."
Kadis, like many Jewish groups, was not pacified.
She said she found Ignatieff's "unprovoked comments very troubling," given that Israel's attack on Qana was a response to the "brazen kidnapping" of Israeli soldiers and missile attacks by Lebanese-based Hezbollah guerrillas.
"This was an attack intended to root out a recognized terrorist group who were raining down thousands of missiles on Israel," she said.
In response to a significant supporter's resignation, Ignatieff said, "Susan is a personal friend and a valued caucus colleague, and her decision causes me pain, but I understand and respect it."
He also made an attempt to ease any tension with Israeli supporters by calling himself a "lifelong friend of Israel" and stressing his belief in Israel's right to defend itself. However he also found time to reiterate his assertion that war crimes were committed.
"I believe that war crimes were committed in the war in Lebanon, I don't think there's any question about it, and war crimes were visited on Israeli civilians and they were visited on Lebanese civilians," he said.
"We've got to be determined as Canadians to do whatever we can to make sure that military solutions are not sought in this conflict because the consequences are just more civilian death."
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