President Trump’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over the systematic persecution of Christians is a welcome and much-needed step to protect religious freedom.

The spectacle of Britain, France, Portugal, Canada, and Australia recognizing an independent Palestinian state this week was an exercise in diplomatic fantasy. The conceit? Anything can become a state if enough self-important world leaders wish it to be so – even a territory ruled by genocidal terrorists and lacking a unified, legitimate, and functioning government.

Do preening politicians like Starmer, Macron, or Carney care about the effect that their gambit will have on prospects for peace? Not in the slightest. Because this isn’t about the Palestinian people: It’s about moral grandstanding in the service of the most immoral of causes.

For four years, the Biden Administration sent a clear message to the world: America’s borders are open, and our laws are optional. This communicates weakness and invites provocation. Indeed, this wasn’t just poor policy – it was a dereliction of duty that compromised our national security in ways we’re still discovering. The consequences have been devastating.

Apologists for the terrorists who seek Israel’s destruction are full of excuses for antisemitic speech, harassment, and even violence. By their logic, the Jewish people bear collective responsibility for the actions of the Jewish state; and since they erroneously consider the State of Israel to be fundamentally illegitimate and guilty of any number of crimes, then individuals of Jewish origin become, in their minds, legitimate targets. This evil must be fought on every front.

Seven years ago, President Trump made one of his most consequential foreign policy decisions by withdrawing from the Obama-negotiated Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA). As Secretary of State during that pivotal moment, I not only supported this decision—I championed it.  Time has validated what we knew then: It was the right call.

Make no mistake: While the geographic caliphate of ISIS has been destroyed, its ideology lives on. These groups have developed sophisticated recruitment strategies that use social media to radicalize predominantly young men around the world, including inside the United States.

As America’s former Secretary of State and CIA Director, I’ve studied the Iranian regime’s behaviors and intentions more closely than most. The intelligence is clear and the conclusion unavoidable: An Iran armed with nuclear weapons would pose an existential threat not only to our allies in the Middle East but to global security as we know it.

Lest we fall into the trap of thinking these protests are just another passing fad and chalk them up to the naivete of youth, we should take a hard look at what has happened on college campuses over the past few weeks.

Seeing these devastated communities firsthand only made it clearer than ever that our country must continue to support Israel in its fight to destroy Hamas, so that the tragedy of October 7 never happens again.

Israel is fighting for its very survival – why on earth would the Biden Administration be publicly pressuring it to surrender in the face of terror? Establishing a terrorist “state” on Israel’s border would only further increase the chances for attacks on Israel in the future.

Israel’s ongoing efforts to achieve this are both just and righteous.  Despite this, hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of people working in our federal government remain so blinded by the progressive narrative of Palestinian victimhood that they cannot call terrorists what they are.

It turns out that hundreds of teachers employed by the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency (UNWRA) actively celebrated the Hamas attacks on October 7th and, in some instances, took pride in having influenced them.

Historically, rising antisemitism has been an indicator that a culture has lost its moral compass, and we would do well to remember that the first German institutions to embrace Nazi ideology enthusiastically – in particular, its vile antisemitism – were the cultural elite at its vaunted universities.

The attacks on Hamas were the worst acts of antisemitic violence perpetrated since the Holocaust.  Pressuring Israel to now sign a long-term ceasefire would only encourage future attacks like those we saw on October 7.