What Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald J. Trump have been doing is not just battling terrorist groups; they have been preventing these groups from achieving their main goal: taking over Western civilization.
The core ideology of groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis — like the Iranian regime — is not influence, trade or partnerships; it is ideological dominance. Their efforts actually center on trying to destroy all non-Muslims, as well as other Muslims that each group considers not Muslim enough.
Doctrinally, every Muslim is committed to killing polytheists (such as Hindus) and to domination over “infidels” such as Christians and Jews — as well as the to the broader project of imposing their vision over the inferior, secular West with its man-made laws (in contrast to Islam’s divine, Allah-made sharia law). Democratic institutions are an abomination to Islamists.
Trump’s approach — combining maximum pressure sanctions, diplomatic isolation of Tehran, and open support for Israel’s right to defend itself — has sought to deny Iran’s regime the resources and international legitimacy it needs to sustain its proxy network to curtail their ability to project power and ideology across the Middle East and into North America, Latin America and Europe.
If there is no serious resistance, the same gradual process that transformed Iran into a hell for its people and hollowed out Lebanese sovereignty can take root in Western democracies. Demographic change, parallel legal systems, political entryism, and the systematic intimidation of critics create the conditions for a determined, incremental takeover. Even demographically, such a transformation becomes impossible to reverse.
The fight that Trump and Netanyahu are presently conducting is not intended only to neutralize terrorist organizations. It is trying to prevent Western civilization, democracy, and freedom from falling under the control of an extremist ideology that openly seeks their replacement.
The least that European and other Western countries can do is to support these efforts — militarily, financially and diplomatically — by refusing to disparage those countries courageously fighting to preserve their freedoms, won at the cost of so many lives, and by refusing to legitimize terror groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, as well as the regime in Iran whose constitution and leaders have committed it to a global struggle until their vision prevails.
What Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald J. Trump have been doing is not just battling terrorist groups; they have been preventing these groups from achieving their main goal: taking over Western civilization.
The core ideology of groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis — like the Iranian regime — is not influence, trade or partnerships; it is ideological dominance. Their efforts actually center on trying to destroy all non-Muslims, as well as other Muslims that each group considers not Muslim enough.
Doctrinally, every Muslim is committed to killing polytheists (such as Hindus) and to domination over “infidels” such as Christians and Jews — as well as the to the broader project of imposing their vision over the inferior, secular West with its man-made laws (in contrast to Islam’s divine, Allah-made sharia law). Democratic institutions are an abomination to Islamists.
The Iranian Constitution itself enshrines this hegemonic ambition. Its preamble declares that the document “provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the Revolution at home and abroad.” It further commits the Islamic Republic of Iran to work with other Islamic and popular movements “to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community” in accordance with the Qur’anic verse describing believers as one community under one god: Allah. The same constitution assigns Iran’s army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps not only to the defense of Iran’s borders but also to “the ideological mission of jihad [war to advance the cause of Islam] in God’s way of; that is, extending the sovereignty of God’s law throughout the world.”
Exporting the revolution is not an optional foreign-policy preference for Iran’s rulers; it is an obligation.
The late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stated,”We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry ‘There is no god but Allah’ resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle.” That formulation leaves little room for coexistence with secular, liberal, or non-Islamic systems. The goal is not influence, trade or partnerships; it is ideological dominance.
This project has already produced concrete results beyond the Middle East. Iranian-backed networks, such as Hezbollah, have established financial, logistical, and operational footholds across Latin America. The Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay has long served as a hub for money laundering, counterfeiting, and fundraising that supplements Iranian patronage and spreads Islam among the people whose lives they promise to benefit. In Venezuela, successive regimes issued passports to individuals linked to Hezbollah, hosted training facilities, and deepened state-to-state cooperation with Iran. Reports in recent years have noted the relocation of hundreds of Hezbollah operatives and their families into South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Parallel activities — document fraud, collaboration with drug cartels, and the use of diplomatic cover — extend the reach of these networks toward the southern approaches of the United States. Cultural centers, media outlets, and educational programs have also sought to cultivate sympathetic audiences.
The method, which is gradual and multi-layered, begins with social and charitable work that builds local legitimacy; proceeds through cultural and religious institutions that shape narratives, and eventually produces political actors who enter state bureaucracies, legislatures and governments. Once inside, they can craft legislation, priorities for law enforcement and foreign policy goals. The Iranian revolution itself followed a comparable trajectory: years of ideological groundwork, infiltration of institutions, and then a sudden consolidation of power that few outside observers fully anticipated until it was complete. Similar patterns have been visible in Lebanon, where Hezbollah evolved from a militia into a dominant political and military force that holds veto power over the state.
Israel’s military campaigns against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iranian military and regime assets are not merely counter-terrorism operations. They degrade the military and financial capacity of regimes whose goal is the destruction of Israel and the erosion of the societies that they control or that host them.
Trump’s approach — combining maximum pressure sanctions, diplomatic isolation of Tehran, and open support for Israel’s right to defend itself — has sought to deny Iran’s regime the resources and international legitimacy it needs to sustain its proxy network to curtail their ability to project power and ideology across the Middle East and into North America, Latin America and Europe.
If there is no serious resistance, the same gradual process that transformed Iran into a hell for its people and hollowed out Lebanese sovereignty can take root in Western democracies. Demographic change, parallel legal systems, political entryism, and the systematic intimidation of critics create the conditions for a determined, incremental takeover. Even demographically, such a transformation becomes impossible to reverse.
The fight that Trump and Netanyahu are presently conducting is not intended only to neutralize terrorist organizations. It is trying to prevent Western civilization, democracy, and freedom from falling under the control of an extremist ideology that openly seeks their replacement.
The least that European and other Western countries can do is to support these efforts — militarily, financially and diplomatically — by refusing to disparage those countries courageously fighting to preserve their freedoms, won at the cost of so many lives, and by refusing to legitimize terror groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, as well as the regime in Iran whose constitution and leaders have committed it to a global struggle until their vision prevails.
 egretnewseditor@gmail.comÂ
