How Can France Fight ISIS? By Helping Israel

How Can France Fight ISIS?
By Helping Israel

What is the best way to fight terrorists? The government of France can do something that will hurt ISIS and other terrorists more than any other possible act: namely, helping Israel. France should move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and should make it clear that this gesture is a response to the murders that took place in Paris. France should tell Islamists that the acts committed by ISIS led to relocating the embassy.

All nations that have been threatened or harmed by terrorists should follow policies of this type. They should announce that every time a terrorist attack occurs, the country that has been targeted will respond by helping Israel — militarily, diplomatically, economically, or in a combination of ways. Terrorists are selfless. They are proud to die for their cause. They are proud to kill innocents, passers-by, and others in the name of jihadism. They don’t expect to be humiliated by their acts. Helping Israel would be the ultimate disgrace.

ISIS has never spoken or acted in favor of the Palestinians. There is no Palestine on the ISIS map of the future.

Instead, ISIS simply believes in killing those who are not Sunni Muslims. It has targeted Shiites, Christians, and all kinds of innocent people from Africa to Europe. Its most notable victims have been Yazidis. It has not had the opportunity to kill Jews or Israelis because Israel knows how to defend itself and its people. Nevertheless, antisemitism and anti-Zionism are at the heart of all jihadist movements.

Can we persuade France to move its embassy? It won’t be easy. Many French citizens and politicians are anti-Israel, as is most of the world. A lot of effort is needed to convince diplomats and heads of state that helping Israel is the way to fight terror. To begin, we have to stress the fact that Israel helps victims of disasters all over the world, as it did after the earthquake in Haiti, when it established the first field hospital there, before Americans even reached the disaster area.

We have to remind people that an anti-Israel Arab citizen, Haneen Zoabi, has kept her seat in the Knesset despite her efforts to fight the nation in whose parliament she sits. No other country in the world would allow this. We have to remind people that Golda Meir was the first woman in history to become a head of government without being either the wife (like Sirimavo Bandaranaike) or the daughter (like Indira Gandhi) of a previous head of government. If this information were better known, it would be easier for France and other countries of the world to convince their citizens to get behind pro-Israel efforts.

Many people in France and elsewhere know that terrorism is a grave threat. Few people know that Israel is remarkably virtuous for a country that has never had a moment’s peace. The way to fight terrorists is to disgrace them by showing that their acts are helping Israel.

This article appeared in The Algemeiner on November 16, 2015

This article appeared in Israel National News on November 20, 2015