As Hamas nears defeat, the world seems determined to stop Israel — yet the stakes go far beyond Gaza. The West is ignoring the warning signs: Israel’s survival is a test for the survival of Western civilization.
Even President Donald Trump — by far Israel’s strongest ally since October 7, more than any other leader in the world — now finds that as Hamas nears defeat, the global drumbeat for a ceasefire, which is nothing less than a demand for Israel’s surrender, has become deafening. What was once framed as “humanitarian concern” has morphed into political pressure aimed not at Hamas, the aggressor, but at Israel, the victim. The closer Israel comes to eliminating a genocidal terror organization, the louder the world insists that it must stop. This is not a call for peace; it is a call for capitulation.
History underscores the danger. In every war since Israel’s founding, international pressure has forced Israel to halt before destroying the Islamist threat. This threat has only grown, metastasizing beyond the Middle East and into the West.
Yet let us assume, against the weight of history, that Israel is allowed total victory over Hamas. What then?
The West clings to the illusion that peace will follow Hamas’s destruction, as if Palestinian society secretly longs for coexistence. This is dangerously naïve. Hamas is not a fringe movement; it reflects a culture steeped in Jew-hatred — taught in schools; preached in mosques; and broadcast daily across Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. Polls show that over 85% of West Bank Palestinians prefer Hamas to the Palestinian Authority. And the P.A. is no moderate alternative: It preaches the same antisemitism, only in a suit rather than fatigues, seeking Israel’s destruction in stages rather than all at once.
Every ceasefire, withdrawal, and “confidence-building measure” has failed. You cannot build peace on hatred. You cannot entrust governance to a population that glorifies murder.
So let us examine the four most likely options for the ‘day after.’
1. Ceasefire = Surrender in Disguise
A premature truce before Hamas’s destruction would hand Iran and Hezb’allah a propaganda victory, proving yet again that terrorism outlasts Israeli resolve and that the West will bail jihadists at the brink of defeat.
2. Palestinian Authority Control = Poison Renewed
Handing Gaza to the P.A. is no solution. For decades, the P.A. has indoctrinated children with Jew-hatred and funded murder through its “pay for slay” program. Gaza under the P.A. would be Gaza poisoned anew.
3. Forced Emigration & Annexation = Decisive but Explosive
International law permits relocating a hostile population posing an existential threat. Annexation with resettlement would eliminate the terror base permanently — but at the cost of massive international backlash and diplomatic isolation.
4. Voluntary Emigration & Arab-Led Reconstruction = The Least Bad Option
Roughly 44% of Gazans say they would leave if given the chance. With U.S. and Gulf support, Arab states aligned through the Abraham Accords could oversee the reconstruction of a demilitarized Gaza, under strict Israeli oversight banning jihadist propaganda. Over time, if stability holds, new leadership untainted by Hamas or Iran could emerge.
Israel stands at a crossroads, where global pressure threatens to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory...again.
Few in the West grasp this truth: Their future depends on Israel’s victory. Israel is not fighting only for itself; it is the canary in the coal mine, and the mine is the West. Decades of reckless immigration have seeded Europe with millions who carry Islamist sympathies. The consequences are visible in Marseille, Brussels, and Berlin, where gangs challenge authority and Western order itself. Integration has largely failed; too many do not wish to join their host culture, but to replace it with illiberal traditions. Only a decisive Israeli triumph over Hamas and its allies can show that militant ideologies are not inevitable — that they can be crushed before spreading farther west.
Many Western leaders appear willing to exchange Israel’s security for the illusion of peace. Israel, however, must chart its own course — resolute and uncompromising — if it is to avoid yet another catastrophic concession. Anything short of decisive victory will amount to only a pause before renewed conflict, while also mirroring the broader cultural erosion already visible in cities across Europe and on the streets and campuses of America.
In this struggle, Israel stands as the first line of defense against that decline. For that reason, it must be allowed not only to fight this war, but to bring it to a clear and enduring conclusion.
Image via Pxbarn.