Sept. 11 was a "wakeup call from hell'' Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister, told a crowd of 1,800 people Tuesday night.

"But the hell that was visited on New York and Washington was nothing compared to the hell that could be visited on all of us if these mad zealots who know no limits on the use of force . . . aren't vanquished entirely.''

The sold-out reception that he received in Toronto -- along with a stand ovation and cheers from his audience -- contrasted sharply with the scene outside the performance hall.

Police estimated that up to 1,000 people -- half pro-Palestinian and half pro-Israeli -- hurled insults and shouted at each other from behind police barricades separating the groups.

"We are fortunate that the numbers didn't show up that we anticipated but we were quite ready'' said Toronto police Insp. John Wallace.

At least one person was treated for a minor injury after being hit with a rock, said Wallace.

Frank Dimant of the B'nai Brith said he was pleased to see the demonstrations were peaceful.

"It's democracy in action,'' Dimant said as he entered the hall to hear Netanyahu speak. "We're seeing a display of Canada is all about -- difference of opinion.''

The peaceful protest, like one earlier in the day in Ottawa, was a sharp contrast to a violent demonstration in Montreal on Monday.

Netanyahu's speech in Montreal's Concordia University was cancelled after 200 pro-Palestinian protesters overran campus security officers and occupied the downtown building where he was to address students. Police beat back the activists with pepper spray and batons, arresting five people after several windows were smashed.

In his Ottawa speech, the former Israeli prime minister compared the Montreal protesters with Middle East terrorists, saying they had "the same glint'' in their eyes.

He said he saw "militant zealotry and mad militancy'' in Canada exported from the Middle East. The level of violence was not the same, but the mentality was, he said.

Netanyahu was kept well away from the protesters in Montreal.

"They can blow up a bus full of babies, they blow an airplane out of the sky, they can blow up a restaurant,'' he told about 600 guests at a downtown Ottawa hotel.

"That glint of hate, that mad zealotry, is the same that I saw in the eyes of these rioters in Montreal yesterday. It is something that once it begins to infect democratic societies, it spreads, it grows.''

Only about a dozen demonstrators showed up to protest Tuesday's speech in Ottawa.

"Dissent is what brings about change,'' said protester Maha Zimmo. "Netanyahu's message is full of hate. He is a warmonger.''

In the capital Netanyahu said the war against terror attacks on innocent people requires moral clarity, strategic clarity, and courage.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies terrorism,'' he said. "It is always evil. Like the evil of Naziism, it has to be fought uniformly. . . . This is a crime against humanity.''

Terrorism is a network consisting of a half-dozen regimes that must be taken out and replaced with something better, he said. That requires pre-emptive strikes and the courage of leaders to sometimes sail against "the prevailing winds of fashion.''

Before speaking to a luncheon crowd on Tuesday, Netanyahu made what government officials described as a "courtesy call'' on Prime Minister Jean Chretien at 24 Sussex Drive.

Calling Concordia a "misaptly named place,'' Netanyahu said Chretien expressed dismay at what happened in Montreal.

"He said: `Well, there is this continual irresponsibility there.'''

A spokesman in the Prime Minister's Office said Chretien believes "democracy is not served when people are not allowed the right to speak.''

Netanyahu called the protests a "microcosm'' of what exists in the Middle East.

"I suggested to the prime minister that it would be in the interests of Canada . . . to root out this kind of zealotry because its pernicious effects can be felt well beyond the university.''

Netanyahu is touring four Canadian cities to promote an anti-terror campaign and raise funds for Israel, sponsored by the Asper Foundation, State of Israel Bonds and Canadian Friends of Hebrew University.

In Ottawa, media mogul Izzy Asper likened the Montreal rioters to Hitler's goons, saying they "put a stain on Canada'' by their actions.

"The minority of a rabble, the rioting group of essentially thugs, lawbreakers, employed a technique known only -- introduced, really -- 70 years ago by Adolf Hitler and his brownshirts,'' said Asper, executive chairman of CanWest Global Corp.

"The shouting down, the closing down, the trampling on the right of free assembly and the physical restraint through violence of freedom of speech. It was a most unfortunate scene for Canada.''