Montreal Man Arrested While Holding an Israeli Flag Sues the City
Daniel Bercovici was arrested while holding an Israeli flag at a Montreal cycling race. The charge against him was dropped after his lawyers produced video, and he is now suing the city and four police officers for C$86,301.
Bercovici, 47, says officers who should have protected him from a hostile crowd instead threw him to the ground, arrested him and then invented a story to justify it. His case, filed in Quebec Superior Court, was reported by CTV News on October 23.
A spectator with a flag
The encounter took place on September 14, 2025, at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, near the foot of Mount Royal. Bercovici had come to cheer for the Israel Premier Tech cycling team. Anti Israel protesters had gathered along the route to demonstrate against the team taking part in the race.
According to the lawsuit, police approached Bercovici without cause, forced him to the ground, searched him and arrested him. While officers escorted him away, protesters allegedly tried to hit him with their flagpoles. He was later charged with obstructing a peace officer.
Video that changed the case
The police version, as described in the lawsuit, accused Bercovici of insulting and taunting protesters, waving his flag aggressively and ignoring orders. Bercovici rejects that account. His claim says the officers wrote their reports from memory hours after the arrest, without notes taken at the time, and built a justification after the fact.
His defense team gave prosecutors video footage and photographs of his injuries. On July 9, 2026, a prosecutor reviewed the evidence. On July 28, the prosecution withdrew the charge, citing the video. Footage seen by CTV shows police leading a man carrying an Israeli flag away from the protesters.
What he is asking for
Bercovici is seeking C$86,301 in compensatory and punitive damages from the City of Montreal and four officers. The suit alleges excessive force, an unlawful search and arrest, and a fabricated account of events. Montreal police declined to comment because the case is before the courts. Israel News Pulse could not independently find information about a response from the City of Montreal or the names of the officers involved.
A city with a record of antisemitic attacks
The case lands in a city where Jews have been targeted repeatedly since the October 7 massacre. In November 2023, shots were fired at two Montreal Jewish schools, and Yeshiva Gedola was hit again days later. Jewish institutions have faced vandalism and threats, and anti Israel demonstrations have regularly turned hostile.
On October 7, 2025, the second anniversary of the massacre, protesters at McGill University burned an Israeli flag. For many Jews in Montreal, the message of such scenes is clear: open support for Israel invites trouble.
The right to fly a flag
Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects expression, including carrying flags and banners in public. Holding a national flag peacefully at a sports event is exactly the kind of expression the law is meant to protect. Violence and threats are not.
Bercovici's lawsuit asks a simple question with wide consequences: when a Jewish man holds an Israeli flag and a crowd turns against him, who do the police protect? For Jewish and pro Israel Canadians who want to show their support in public, the answer matters. The court will now decide whether Montreal police got it wrong.
