The recent confirmed death of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas‘s most notorious leader, should be seen as more than just the elimination of a terrorist mastermind. It should serve as a glaring reminder of something altogether more troubling: Israel‘s lonely battle against terror, forced upon it not by circumstance alone, but by the moral and intellectual cowardice of Western leaders.
Sinwar’s career embodied the very worst of what Hamas represents: a movement committed not to the betterment of Palestinians but to a relentless campaign of bloodshed. His demise, while a significant blow to Hamas, does not signal an end to the threat posed by the ideology he championed. And herein lies the rub — the West, for all its supposed values, has continually failed to confront that threat.
For just over a year now, Israel has had to fight this war on its own, not because it lacked the support of fellow democracies, but because it was betrayed by their dangerous intellectual acrobatics. Western politicians and media commentators have performed rhetorical contortions to avoid confronting the reality of Islamist terrorism.
Instead of addressing the indoctrination, the Islamic fundamentalism, and the genocidal rhetoric emanating from groups like Hamas, the narrative has been skillfully twisted to present the problem as one of mere “liberation,” as though firing rockets at civilian centres and slaughtering families could be considered acts of legitimate resistance.
What makes this intellectual dishonesty so appalling is not only that it allows Hamas to mask itself as a “liberation movement,” but that it serves the interests of Iran — a regime that has mastered the art of propaganda and influence, selling a narrative of Palestinian “resistance” while systematically suppressing the freedoms of its own people. The truth is that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has not only armed and funded Hamas but has used it as a proxy to advance Tehran’s ambitions across the Middle East.
And while this has unfolded, the West has not just stood by; it has actively participated in this charade. By indulging Iran’s narrative, Western leaders have not only left Israel to fight alone but have also abandoned millions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to the creeping influence of the IRGC. We see it in Syria, where Iran props up a tyrant and directs its militias to terrorise civilians; in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, another IRGC proxy, has effectively hijacked the state; or in Iraq, where Iran’s shadow looms large over every political decision.
It is not only Israel that suffers when the West fails to confront terrorism and extremism head-on; it is the entire region, and it is the people of the Middle East who are left at the mercy of these malign forces. It is no secret that there are political calculations behind the West’s refusal to see these threats for what they are.
There exists a demographic within Western societies that has been drawn in by the rhetoric of “liberation”, shaped not by the facts on the ground but by an image of struggle romanticised in the media and fuelled by Iran’s narratives. To confront Hamas as a terrorist organisation, to see it as the genocidal movement it truly is, would mean dispelling this myth.
It would mean alienating a segment of the population that has, wittingly or unwittingly, bought into a narrative that equates terror with resistance.
What makes this all the more galling is that Iran has long menaced western interests around the world. Iranian funded proxies have launched multiple attacks on American targets in the Middle East, including the bombing of the US marine barracks in 1983 and the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut. In 2022, German intelligence claimed that the IRGC was behind a string of attacks on Jewish communal buildings in the country while an Austrian report said that Vienna was full of Iranian spies.
In 2023, the UK’s MI5 Director General, Ken McCallum, revealed that Tehran was behind at least 10 credible threats to kidnap or kill British or UK based individuals. The ayatollah regime has since allied with Vladimir Putin, boosting the President’s brutal onslaught against Ukraine with its supply of drones and ballistic missiles. For these reasons alone, Iran should be seen as a rogue state, rather than an asset to the West.
Politicians, fearful of upsetting this demographic or of appearing “anti-Palestinian,” have opted instead for a sort of moral paralysis, where condemnation is either perfunctory or altogether absent. Israel, meanwhile, is left to defend not just its borders but the very concept of Western civilisation — alone. This is not just cowardice; it is complicity.
The refusal to confront Iran’s role in fomenting terror does not just embolden the regime in Tehran; it betrays the countless millions in the MENA region who long for a future free from theocratic despotism. It is worth asking why so many in the West are prepared to tolerate the advances of the IRGC across the Middle East. The reality is that Iran is not simply exploiting these conflicts; it is actively spreading its influence, using groups like Hamas as tools for its broader ambitions.
When Western politicians perform their rhetorical gymnastics to avoid naming the threat, they are not just betraying Israel — they are abandoning the people of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and beyond, who have suffered immeasurably under the shadow of the IRGC.
Let us be clear: Sinwar’s death changes little if the West continues to cling to its illusions. The ideology he represented did not die with him; it is alive in the rockets stored in Gaza’s schools, in the tunnels dug under its hospitals, and in the speeches of leaders who would sooner martyr their own people than seek peace. The West’s duty is not to entertain fantasies about “liberation movements” but to confront the harsh reality that groups like Hamas are instruments of oppression, not freedom.
It is time for everyone in the West to find the courage to stand with Israel not only in word but in deed. It is time to reject the false narrative of “resistance” and call Hamas what it is — a terrorist organisation backed by a regime that has exploited the naivety of the West for too long. And it is time to admit that the battle against Islamist terror is not just Israel’s battle but the battle of the civilised world.
If we cannot find the resolve to confront this evil now, we will have no right to call ourselves defenders of liberty when it comes knocking on our own door. The death of Sinwar is a reminder of what is at stake. Let us not waste it.
Catherine Perez-Shakdam is the Executive Director of We Believe In Israel and Jeremy Havardi is the Director of the B’nai B’rith UK Bureau of International Affairs.