Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is only part of the reason for war with Iran. It is also to stop Islamic terrorism from spreading throughout the world. This is an existential threat.
Using proxies, such as Hamas (Gaza), Hezbollah (Lebanon), the Houthis (Yemen) and Shi’ite communities and cells, embedded in many countries around the world, are a global threat that serves Iran. The Islamic Republic is also assisted by Sunni organizations that support terrorism, such as the Palestinian Authority, the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS and countries like Qatar and many others.
And yet the Muslim world, except for a few Gulf States, such as the United Arab Emirates, is silent about this danger. Some even support it.
Although Israel has been fighting wars with Islamic terrorism, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, for decades, it has not been able to defeat them. Israel relied on a policy of containment; limited responses, including a brief war in Lebanon more than 20 years ago; and a political/military balance of power—a policy of making concessions and appeasement. It didn’t work because the Islamist ideology of Jew-hatred remained and enjoyed popular support among most Muslims.
Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, revealed the Islamist strategy to promote a “global jihad,” a war that would unite the Muslim world, along with Palestinians and their supporters, against Israel and the United States. Its battle cry of “From the river to the sea,” “Free Palestine,” “End the Occupation (of Palestine)” and “Globalize the intifada” is meant to incite and destroy Israel. That’s why the P.A. has a policy of “pay-for-slay” and reveres “martyrs”: terrorists who die or are in jail for killing Jews.
And it’s supported directly and indirectly by European and other non-Muslim countries, an army of anti-Israel NGOs, and international organizations, such as the United Nations.
Unlike other wars that are fought over national boundaries, national rights and national goals, the war against Israel is different. It’s motivated by Islamism, a jihadist ideology that seeks to establish a caliphate, convert or kill all non-Muslims, and conquer/dominate the world.
Divided between two main branches—Shi’ites (led by Iran) and Sunnis (including those who follow the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda and others)—the Muslim world is engaged in a power struggle. Both branches, however, with a few exceptions, support jihad and terrorism, and both have declared war on Western civilization, especially on Jews and Israel.
The war has other factors, such as the control of natural resources, especially oil and gas, lithium, etc. Additionally, the cultural and religious bigotry of antisemitism contributes its poison.
World War II was fought not only to defeat German and Japanese armies, but also to defeat their evil ideologies, Nazism and Japanese fascism. Once again, the threat is ideological: Islamic-based terrorism that is supported by wealthy Muslim countries, some with weapons of mass destruction, by Muslim charities and NGOs, and by most Muslim “religious” leaders.
Other conflicts (Russia-Ukraine, Taiwan-China) and the future of Communist regimes (North Korea, North Vietnam) are affected by the Islamist-led global conflict. Most of Africa is engaged in civil wars between Muslim forces and non-Muslims (Christians and native tribes) who are being slaughtered.
Islamist strategy seeks to unite the world against Israel and its supporters. That was Yasser Arafat’s strategy when he organized the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964, with the help of the Soviet Union and others. Fake offers of peace led to the Oslo Accords, which legitimized the PLO, establishing a Palestinian Authority led by the PLO and proposing a “two-state solution.” This failed when Arafat launched suicidal attacks during the Second Intifada (2001-2005), followed by disengagement and the evacuation of Jews from the Gaza Strip (2005), which enabled Hamas to establish a terrorist regime in Gaza.
And then, of course, came the massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israeli communities and the kidnapping of 251 others on Oct. 7.
The Islamist strategy to destroy Israel was used by the Muslim Brotherhood when it founded Hamas in the late 1980s. It’s what lies at the core of Palestinianism and its goal of destroying Israel. All Israeli-Arab parties are affiliated with the Brotherhood; the ideology is taught in Arab schools in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem.
As a matter of its survival, therefore, Israel can and should (at least) ban organizations and political parties that promote hatred of Jews and Israel from any role in Israel’s political and social system. Those who promote that ideology should not be rewarded, encouraged or tolerated.
