In February 2025, I released Find IDF Soldiers, a database now containing the names and profiles of 206 Canadians who have joined the Israeli military. In December, I released a follow-up project, GTA to IDF, which examines several institutions in the Greater Toronto Area connected to the soldiers.
Both websites — which are based entirely on public information — were published to help readers understand how and why Canadians may join the Israeli military.
These projects attracted a considerable amount of attention, including global organic support. They also received significant backlash from pro-Israel forces, up to and including the Israeli government.
This backlash has manifested in an ongoing effort to get the sites taken down, which has included hacking attempts, public discussions of civil lawsuits, a campaign to cut off The Maple from global payment processors, death threats and harassment and doxxing of my family.
Perhaps the most serious of these methods thus far is the campaigns to have me criminally charged and imprisoned. The specific sections of the Criminal Code some of the figures behind these campaigns allege I have violated carry prison sentences of up to 10 years, and that’s what they seem to be aiming to achieve.
Both websites remain live. I haven’t received a single formal legal threat or even correction request. I haven’t been contacted by any law enforcement agency, much less charged for anything. The RCMP looked into Find IDF Soldiers due to a complaint through an online form and declared it “non-criminal.”
With this in mind, I decided to reach out to people and organizations in Canada who have spoken publicly about seemingly trying to get me criminally charged and ask them how their efforts are going.
I’ll go through each of them now, explaining who the figures are and what they’ve had to say.
Israel Ellis
Israel Ellis is an “author and entrepreneur,” podcast host, and the father of a Canadian who has served in the Israeli military, including since Oct. 7, 2023.
I believe Ellis was the first person to write an article complaining about Find IDF Soldiers, and he’s been the most persistently vocal critic of the site since then.
Ellis has discussed me with guests in at least 11 of his podcast episodes (including one featuring his son and two other lone soldiers that has since been made private on YouTube) and at least seven articles on his Substack.
Over the past 17 months, Ellis has called me a “low life,” “useful idiot,” “pseudo journalist,” “piece of garbage,” “bastard” and a “piece of shit,” falsely claimed I’m an immigrant to Canada taking advantage of the country, and said, “There’s a special place in hell for this guy.” He also claimed: “Just so you know, Mr. Mastracci, you’re being watched. We know who you are. And we know where you are.” On another occasion, he said, “We know who are behind these websites. We’re watching you. And we’ll find you.”
In the midst of the time span in which these comments were made, I received a submission through my website’s contact form from someone purporting to be Aviv Yeshayav, an assistant producer of Ellis’s podcast. The email stated: “I am reaching out because I’d like us to establish communication. There is too much division, and, in the Canadian spirit, we need to try to find common ground and build bridges. Would you be interested in being featured in our podcast?”
Ellis has made his intention to have me imprisoned explicit, and has detailed the steps he is taking to try and make it happen.
In February 2025, Ellis wrote: “Can someone PLEASE shut this useful idiot and his web site down? and charge Mr. Mastracci for the crime of indecent exposure.”
Ellis was quoted in a March 2025 Canadian Jewish News article about opposition to the website: “‘“How do we get this thing shut down as quickly as possible?’” That took me on a bit of a journey,’ [Ellis] said, and [he] was soon contacting ‘every politician I know’—and law enforcement officials, too.” The publication stated that Ellis had “sought to launch a complaint with Toronto Police Services.”
On an August 2025 podcast episode, Ellis asked his guest, an advisor to Israel’s defence ministry: “What is the Israeli government, what is the IDF, what is the Mossad ... what are we doing to shut down these websites?”
On a November 2025 podcast episode featuring a former Israeli military member on the Find IDF Soldiers website, Ellis made several comments, including:
- “We’ve been to lawyers about it. My wife and I are all over it”;
- “I believe there is legal recourse here, and I don’t want to say much about what’s happening”;
- “If anyone is out there right now who is a IDF soldier, a lone soldier, who has been mentioned on findidfsoldiers.net and you’re wondering what to do, please reach out to me. I will give you the name of attorneys to speak to. I will let you know exactly what steps you can take. We need you to become a complainant. There definitely is a violation of hate laws over here. There’s just going to be, hopefully, some justice served.”
Ellis was featured on a January Canadian Jewish News podcast saying, “I have appealed to many different levels of government about this. I have said this is absolutely indecent. It should not be allowed. If I put a website together about every Black person or every person involved with Black Lives Matter, or any other kind of lists, I think that I would be shut down immediately.”
He later added, “There are things that I cannot talk about, but at this point in time, there is a team of lawyers that are working with the RCMP and working with different federal levels of government to determine opportunities that are available to us. That’s all I will say. And that I’m hopeful that something will happen soon. I also feel that the Israeli government, who I’m meeting with next month, should take responsibility here and accountability as well. And I have met recently in Israel with several members at different task forces within the Israeli government who are now very well aware of this site. And I believe that they’re launching their own investigation.”
Ellis also made a call to the Canadian public: “If anyone out there claims to support our lone soldiers, some who have made the ultimate sacrifice at protecting Israel, you should immediately contact your MP, your MPP, your town council. You should go out there and you should voice your objection to such a site.”
In a video posted to Twitter earlier this month, Ellis said, “I have engaged lawyers. I’m in the process of engaging my fourth attorney. Can we not get this website shut down?”
However, Ellis has also repeatedly commented on my journalistic bonafides. He has stated:
- “He was careful. It was an aggregate of public information.” (April 2025)
- “There certainly is, I’m sure, a lot of legalities around what they’re doing. They’re doing it very carefully.” (August 2025)
- “The authors are extremely careful.” (August 2025)
- “The website is clever. These guys know what they’re doing.” (November 2025)
The Canadian Jewish News also wrote in March 2025 that Ellis “realizes the publication isn’t illegal per se.”
Ellis has also repeatedly complained about how no one in government or law enforcement, at least within Canada, seems to be doing what he wants:
- “I have not been able to get a single law maker to shut down the web site hunting our IDF soldiers because there simply is not the judiciary will or agency to do so.” (March 2025)
- “The problem is that Canada does not have laws that cover this. It is an uphill battle to prove intent to harm. There is a risk to launching a legal action that gets dismissed as it will cause to validate (the database project).” (March 2025)
- “I can’t believe that a government, that in today’s world, that they will allow this website to exist.” (May 2025)
- “The Canadian government won’t shut this down. I’ve spoke to so many people. Shut this fucking thing down!” (June 2025)
- “No matter who I’ve spoken to, in the government, and within leadership, no one seems to have the agency or the wherewithal to shut this site down.” (June 2025)
- “I feel betrayed by the leaders of this country. By the attorney general, by the legislative powers who don’t seem to have the agency to shut this down.” (November 2025)
- “Despite complaints I and others have filed, despite requests for hate crime charges, this site remains online.” (January 2026)
- “Despite complaints to all levels of government, no one will shut down this incitement to hatred.” (March 2026)
- “I’ve talked to every level of government. No one can seem to shut it down.” (May 2026)
In his initial blog post about Find IDF Soldiers, Ellis wrote in a direct address to me: “I am not a legal expert and I could tell in your creative writing that you think much of yourself and creative diffusion of any legal liability because you imagine that this is all public information anyways. I am also sure that our humanist, Mr Mastracci, is emboldened by a public policy, criminal court system, and lack of legislation that would see him convicted of any crime. But this will not be the case. You have now poked the bear.”
It’s been 17 months since I allegedly “poked the bear,” so I reached out to Ellis with a set of questions:
1) Can you confirm that Aviv Yeshayav reached out to invite me on your podcast in September 2025?
2) Are you still trying to get me criminally charged and imprisoned?
3) If so, can you provide any updates on how it’s going?
4) In an episode of your podcast, you said, “Just so you know, Mr. Mastracci, you’re being watched. We know who you are. And we know where you are.” What did you mean by this? And who is the “we” in this statement referring to?
5) In another episode of your podcast, you said, “What is the Israeli government, what is the IDF, what is the Mossad ... what are we doing to shut down these websites?” What would you like to see these forces, particularly the IDF and Mossad, do in in response to my site?
6) Why did you make the episode of your podcast featuring your son and two other lone soldiers private on YouTube?
Yeshayav responded, CC’ing Ellis, stating, “Good to finally hear back from you! Would you be willing to have this discussion on our show, The Unfiltered View? I’d really like to turn this into an opportunity to build a bridge. Let me know what we can do to make this happen.”
I declined the invitation and stated that Ellis should answer the questions by email.
I didn’t hear back from him. I will update the article if I do in the future.
Matthew Taub
Matthew Taub is the founder of Unapologetically Jewish (UJ), a non-profit registered lobby group that says it “combats antisemitism through grassroots organizing, legal advocacy, and direct action, building a Canada where Jewish identity is celebrated, not silenced.” The UJ website currently lists branded trucker hats and beanies for sale, for $54 and $50, respectively.
Taub has posted about me on several occasions, and called me a “fucking jack ass,” “queer Jew hater,” “Jew hating publisher of a Jew hating garbage pretend newspaper,” and “rabid Jew hater and inciter of hate and list maker of Jews and Jewish institutions” (that last one really rolls off the tongue).
Taub also tweeted asking how a family member of mine who had been doxxed and harassed, including with a threatening phone call, was doing, including asking if they were “still being harassed.” I haven’t commented on this harassment on social media or in my articles until now. The only public mention of it prior to Taub’s tweet was in an email to Maple readers, but that email didn’t mention the specific family member being harassed, so it’s unclear to me how Taub knew it was them.
A January Jewish News Syndicate article profiled Taub, and discussed some of the work he’s doing through his organization.
The article noted: “Taub’s docket of current files appears to reflect willingness to operate where others hesitate. For five months, he has been working quietly on a legal response to Davide Mastracci’s ‘find an IDF soldier’ [sic] list on the website the Maple [sic], which shares personal information about those listed. He is also responding to its list of Greater Toronto area schools and camps that are linked to Canadian Israelis and Zionists. ‘If we’re going to do something, we have to make sure that we’re going to win,’ [Taub] told JNS. ‘Because this sets precedence.’”
It has now been about a year since Taub allegedly began plotting legal action against me, according to the article, so I reached out to him with a set of questions:
1) Are you still trying to get me criminally charged and imprisoned?
2) If so, can you provide any updates on how it’s going?
3) Should I take the time that has elapsed since your comments in the Jan. 2, 2026, Jewish News Syndicate article to mean you aren’t sure you’d win any legal action against me?
4) What did you mean in this April 7, 2026, tweet when you asked how my family member was doing and said they were being harassed? What were you referring to and how did you come by this information?
5) Has my journalism been mentioned in any lobbying of politicians and government officials your organization has done?
I didn’t receive a response. I will update the article if I receive one in the future.
Tafsik Organization
Tafsik Organization is a Canadian non-profit that describes itself as being composed of “Maccabee warriors” who are “protecting Jewish life in Canada through lawfare, allieship [sic], and community action.” The Tafsik website currently lists branded hoodies and t-shirts for sale, including one with the text “ZIONIST AF” for $50.
The organization has been behind several legal campaigns, including a failed effort to prevent the Palestinian flag from being raised at Toronto’s city hall.
The Tafsik website currently has a database that contains dozens of profiles of pro-Palestine voices, including me. The page has been live since at least July 2024.
An archived version of a page describing the database states: “D.A.V.I.D., the Datahub Against Violence, Intimidation, and Discrimination, revolutionizes the fight against bigotry. Led by Tafsik, it tackles antisemitic rhetoric using a robust database. Utilizing the SEO from social media platforms like Twitter(X)/TikTok/Facebook posts reported onto D.A.V.I.D. will have hyper visibility using a simple google search, affecting the individuals employment opportunities and reputation. D.A.V.I.D. employs facial recognition to identify bigots from photos or videos. AI spiders crawl social media platforms, detecting antisemitic content in posts, comments, and images. Upon identification, D.A.V.I.D. studies historical activity to gauge radicalization.”
In December 2025, Mark Goldberg, a prominent telecom consultant, tweeted a letter purportedly sent by Tafsik to undisclosed recipients. The letter hasn’t been posted publicly by Tafsik, as far as I know.
Here’s an excerpt from the letter:
“Tafsik Organization is actively leading a comprehensive investigation into Davide Mastracci, the individual behind the website findidfsoldiers.com and its new feature ‘GTA to IDF’ [...] Our legal team is currently assessing all available civil and criminal avenues and preparing immediate next steps. We are also engaging with relevant authorities, community partners, and security experts to ensure this conduct is scrutinized to the fullest extent possible.
This will not go unanswered. Tafsik will pursue every lawful remedy to hold Mr. Mastracci, his board, and The Maple, which has enabled or hosted this material, fully accountable for publishing and amplifying such despicable and dangerous lists. The consequences will be significant, legally, financially, and reputationally. We will continue to update the community as this process advances and encourage anyone who feels at risk or has been directly affected to document incidents and seek appropriate legal and security support.”
Earlier that year, Tafsik launched a legal campaign “in partnership with Jacqueline Lewis and a team of 36 lawyers at Lewis and Associates and collaborating firms.” Tafsik claims its work “spans the entire country,” and states that its “next phase is to aggressively pursue a wave of civil cases against media outlets” and others. A Jacqueline Lewis is listed as one of Tafsik’s non-profit directors.
An August 2025 profile of Lewis at the Entrepreneurial Outlook magazine states: “She was approached by the TAFSIK Organization to form a pro bono legal team dedicated to combating antisemitism and all forms of hatred. ‘Antisemitism remains the leading hate-related complaint in Canada—and likely across the globe,’ she notes. ‘This invitation was both an honor and a challenge.’ Rising to that challenge, Jacki assembled a 25-member legal team and is actively working to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all communities.”
In March, the National Post published an article about Lewis, which stated: “The former board president of Egale Canada, a leading Canadian group that advocates for LGBT rights, says she now wants to devote her energies to fighting antisemitism. [...] ‘My reasons for leaving are that I have been with the organization for a long time and my politics and priorities lie with fighting antisemitism with Tafsik Organization (a Jewish Civil Rights group),’ Lewis wrote in a Thursday email to National Post.”
It’s now been about seven months since the letter allegedly from Tafsik was shared by Goldberg, so I decided to reach out to Tafsik to ask them:
1) Is this letter shared by Mark Goldberg on Twitter on Dec. 11, 2025, authentic, and if so, who was it sent to?
2) If the letter did come from you, are you still trying to get me criminally charged and imprisoned?
3) If so, can you provide any updates on how it’s going?
4) Is the Lewis and Associates firm you have announced a partnership with involved in any such efforts, and if not, what firms are?
I also reached out to Lewis to ask if her firm is involved in any efforts from Tafsik against me and The Maple.
I didn’t receive a response. I will update the article if I receive one in the future.
ARZA Canada, Reform Jewish Community of Canada, Reform Rabbis of Canada
In February 2025, a few days after Find IDF Soldiers was released, a coalition of religious Jewish organizations published a statement about it.
They wrote: “In response to this situation, legal efforts are already underway to address this harmful publication. While these steps are being pursued, we strongly encourage any congregation or individual who feels at risk to immediately contact their local law enforcement agency.”
I reached out to them to ask:
1) Did the legal efforts you were pursuing against me (mentioned in this Feb. 28, 2025, statement) include criminal charges?
2) Are these legal efforts ongoing?
3) If so, can you provide any updates on them?
I didn’t receive a response. I will update the article if I receive one in the future.
This list of campaigns against me is not comprehensive, as there are likely others that haven’t been made public yet as well as ones originating from abroad.
I will continue reporting on these campaigns going forward.
Consider becoming a Maple member and/or making a one-time donation to help us weather these attacks.
