Ottawa U’s Special Adviser on Anti-Semitism Apologizes, Resigns After Posts Praising Pager Explosions in Lebanon

The University of Ottawa’s special adviser on anti-Semitism resigned following criticism for posts he made on social media praising a wave of deadly pager explosions in Lebanon.
Israel has not commented upon nor taken credit for the device attacks. In a statement, Hezbollah said it holds Israel “fully responsible” for the attacks.
Following backlash on social media, Wilczynski followed up on the post the next day and said there had been a misunderstanding of his usage of the word “brilliant.” He said the loss of innocent lives needed to be avoided, but as a retired national security leader, he was referring to the “complexity & sophistication of an operation.”
“My intent in sharing is irrelevant when it is clear many were hurt by them. I apologize. I resigned as Special Advisor on Antisemitism,” he said.
Wilczynski responded to one X user that the resignation was “completely my decision,” while he told another that he had not deleted the post because “I don’t believe in re-writing history. I did write it and it should be part of the record. It’s called transparency.”
Before taking on the role in June, Wilczynski had spent 30 years as a senior official in a number of federal departments and agencies, while also playing roles as the ambassador to Norway and Head of Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance from 2016 to 2018.