On July 17, Deborah Lyons, Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, abruptly retired. Lyons, who served as Canada’s ambassador to Israel from 2016 to 2020, came into this role in October 2023 — just a week after Palestinian terrorists carried out their barbaric attacks in Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking over 250 hostages. While she was expected to hold the position for another few months, until October 2025, she decided “with a heavy heart,” to step down early.