Israel’s War and the West’s Duty: Security for Israel First, Humanity Always

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiant UN address underscores a painful paradox for the West. On one side, Israel faces an existential fight against Hamas, a terrorist organization armed and financed, amongst others, by Iran, whose clear aim is not compromise but Israel’s destruction. On the other, the people of Gaza are enduring catastrophic suffering — displacement, shortages of food and medicine and the trauma of war.

The West must acknowledge both realities. To ignore the humanitarian crisis is to deny our own values; but to downplay Israel’s right to defend itself is to undermine the very foundation of Western security. The only sustainable path is to recognize that the root cause of Gaza’s misery is not Israel’s determination to neutralize Hamas, but Hamas’s determination to sacrifice civilians as shields in its vain war against Israel.

Calls for Palestinian statehood in this context risk rewarding terror and weakening deterrence. A viable Palestinian future can only emerge once terror infrastructure is dismantled and responsible governance replaces fanaticism. Anything else is a dangerous mirage.

For the West, the stakes extend far beyond Gaza. If Israel falters, the lesson for Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing is clear: the West lacks the resolve to defend itself. Unity and firmness are therefore essential. This means more than military aid; it means strategic clarity: Israel has the right — and the obligation — to finish the job against Hamas.

At the same time, the West must use its strength to channel aid, medical support, and reconstruction planning directly to the civilian population, bypassing Hamas. This dual approach — hard power against terror, humanitarian commitment toward civilians — embodies the balance between strength and moral responsibility that defines the Western project.

In the end, supporting Israel while easing the suffering in Gaza is not a contradiction. It is a necessity. Without security, there can be no freedom; without humanity, there can be no legitimacy. The West must champion both and never allow terrorism to dictate the future of the Middle East.