Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “eliminated” yet another Hamas leader hiding in Gaza, the IDF announced Saturday. On Friday, the IDF “struck and eliminated the terrorist Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa,” a founding member of Hamas’s military wing who advanced to become Head of Hamas’s Combat Support Headquarters, and who “played a significant role in the planning and execution of the October 7th massacre.”

Thus, Israel continues its pattern of systematically destroying the leadership structures of the terrorist organizations sworn to Israel’s annihilation. At the end of July 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, and an explosive device killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran safehouse. In September, Israel struck Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and others as they gathered for a war conference under a residential building. In October, Israeli forces confirmed the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, whom they accidentally encountered after a months-long search.

Israel’s strategic assassinations have done the entire world an invaluable service. These terrorist leaders presented an immediate threat to Israeli lives, but a longer-term threat to the entire world. Aqil, for instance, participated in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, and he had never been held accountable.

For decades, these men represented the vanguard of a globalized jihadist movement, which has terrorized cities from Mumbai to San Bernardino, and from London to Kabul. Their rhetoric incited new generations of terrorists, and their continued survival served as the opposite of deterrence to such crimes. Now, Israel has flipped the script, and for that the whole world should be thankful.

Western Critics

But not everyone approves of Israel’s actions — or even Israel’s existence. The day after Hamas’s October 7 attack, several hundred pro-Hamas demonstrators gathered in Times Square to chant about Israel’s destruction and the need to “globalize the intifada.” Palestinian militias describe their wars against Israel as intifadas; globalizing one would involve attacking Jews wherever they may be found, such as when an Egyptian national used homemade flamethrowers to attack elderly Jewish Americans in Boulder, Colorado.

The morally inverted display triggered a horrific wave of anti-Semitic demonstrations at college campuses across America, predominantly at elite universities. In one of the most recent displays, more than 100 students took over Columbia University’s Butler Library in May, disrupting students studying for finals. On Monday, a federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism found Harvard University “violent violation” of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for failing to protect Jewish students.

Despite the welcome pushback from the Trump administration, the anti-Semitic faction seems to hold more power than ever on the political Left. In a Sunday interview on “Meet the Press,” avowed socialist Zohran Mamdani, fresh off winning the Democratic primary in the New York City mayor’s race, repeatedly refused to condemn the phrase, “globalize the intifada.”

“It is a phrase that many people here use as a call to violence against Jews,” stated host Kristen Welker. “So I want to give you the opportunity to respond, do you defend that phrase?” Mamdani replied, “That is not language I use. The language I used to lead this city is … grounded in the release of human rights.”

After such an evasive answer, Welker instinctually doubled down, “But do you actually condemn it? That is the question and outstanding issue.” Again, Mamdani deflected, “I have heard from many Jewish New Yorkers who have shared their concerns, … in my campaign, I put forward the commitment to increase funding for anti-hate programming by 800%. I don’t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech, in the manner especially of that of Donald Trump.”

Welker gave Mamdani one more chance to help himself by disavowing the phrase, “For the people who care about the language and feel very concerned about that phrase, why not just condemn it?” But Mamdani reiterated, “My concern is to start to walk down the line of language and making clear what language I believe is permissible, taking me into a place similar to that of the president who is looking to do those very things, putting people in jail for writing an op-ed, putting them in jail for protesting. Ultimately, it is not language I use.”

Thus, when given three chances to condemn a phrase that endorses violence against Jews, the latest progressive star could only offer platitudes about not policing speech. Of course, the First Amendment has never protected incitement to violence. And it’s hard to believe Mamdani would so heavily weight First Amendment freedoms if the issue concerned a pregnancy center not referring for abortion, a professor not using transgender pronouns, or a scientist questioning public health dogma.

Mamdani’s moral obfuscation proves so useful to the terrorist cause that a Hezbollah-linked news website ran a glowing profile last Tuesday. “The presence of a Muslim political figure leading the city’s municipality is seen as a symbolic threat to Zionist circles, who fear it could encourage pro-Palestinian discourse,” gushed the piece in Al-Khandiq. “Zohran Mamdani’s victory as New York City mayor would indeed be a significant step, opening the door to even greater roles.”

Of course, Hezbollah’s definition of “pro-Palestinian discourse” includes the sort of rhetorical cover for anti-Semitic terrorism that Mamdani displayed in his Sunday interview. Thus, while Israel boldly destroys terrorists, their adversaries dissemble. Israel is providing world-class leadership; the anti-Semitic rabble musters only lies.

Iranian Condemnation

As with Middle Eastern terrorism, the trail of anti-Semitic propaganda leads eventually back to the Iranian regime. On Sunday, Iran’s chief cleric issued a fatwa against U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, identifying them as enemies of the global Islamic community and “warlords” who can face severe punishment under Sharia law.

The fatwa comes as the Iranian regime tries to recover from the devastating U.S. attack on its nuclear weapons program. New satellite imagery shows Iran’s first attempts at excavating the rubble above the underground Fordo facility, which Iran will have to clear out before it even assesses the full extent of the damage.

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted that the regime’s nuclear sites sustained “significant and serious damages,” although the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was still “surveilling the damages.” This agrees with the assessments made by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission and Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The military operation, which Trump dubbed the “12-Day War,” demonstrated beyond all argument that Israel’s military — to say nothing of America’s — is far superior to Iran’s. Therefore, Iran’s strategy has been to score propaganda victories in place of military ones. For decades, this strategy worked, as world opinion deterred Israel from freely pursuing its interests.

But the Iranian regime forgot that lies are always weaker than truth, even if they are more popular for a time. Eventually, Israel had to act to protect itself from Iran’s nuclear menace, and President Trump provided the perfect opportunity for them to do so. In less than two weeks, Israel guaranteed its safety for years to come. Its critics, in both the Islamic world and the West, have no answer to Israel’s victory, only complaints.