Over 500,000 Israelis so far have been vaccinated for COVID-19. Although it will take a while for our world to return to normal, the time has begun to contemplate how we should cope with the radical Islamist threat in a post-corona world. In an exclusive interview with MK Ayoob Kara, he proclaimed: “On the one hand, the coronavirus has made the people in all states poorer. On the other hand, the people have learned that G-d is more powerful than any leadership. This could cause some people to think that they got nothing to lose. Maybe they will become more radical. In my opinion, the coronavirus has strengthened the belief in radical Islam.”
Prominent Middle East scholar Dr. Mordechai Kedar concurred: “What we saw in France recently is only the tip of the iceberg. People want to talk freely and show cartoons. The fact that the Muslims cannot accept it also exists in other places. This can potentially be in every other place. This is what we should bear in mind. This is a basic problem that can be everywhere, regardless of the corona.”
However, Dr. Kedar claims that the rise of the Antifa and BLM Movements in the United States following the coronavirus disaster has strengthened radical Islam further than it would have been otherwise: “It is quite clear that the Muslim Brotherhood is becoming bolder in American society. The more the radical Islamists are successful in America, the more that will influence the radical Islamists in Europe. As a result, Islamist activity in Europe is getting more and more significant.”
Nevertheless, MK Kara emphasized that one of the positive things that happened due to the coronavirus is that it has taught us to believe that this plague can target us all equally, regardless of our religious affiliation. As a result of this plague, at least for now, MK Kara claimed that the radical Islamist groups have been less active: “They are also afraid of the corona and need to continue to exist.”
Alongside the grave Iranian threat, MK Kara believes that this is one of the reasons why so many Muslim countries now want to make peace with Israel: “Israel could soon have a relationship with most of the Arab countries for everyone is afraid from the coronavirus and the Islamic Republic of Iran. All these states including radical ones want technologies from the West and Israel to battle the coronavirus. Last year, there were extremely optimistic messages from Algeria, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, etc. Even the fanatical radical Muslim states send messages that they need different technologies from Israel to fight the corona. Even Hamas is afraid of the corona and is looking for different ways to help the citizens of Gaza fight it. Same with the Palestinian Authority and Hezbollah.”
Although some nations will remain enemies of Israel in a post-corona world and could be further emboldened to fight against the Jewish state for they are desperate, MK Kara noted that other countries will maintain peace agreements with Israel and this will strengthen Israel in its struggle against the radical Islam. In a post-corona world, MK Kara believes that we should continue to fight against the radical Islamism like we have in the past: “However, it has become easier to do so.”
Yet in Europe and America, Dr. Kedar believes that the emboldening of radical Islam will only get worse, even as Israel signs peace agreements with numerous Muslim countries: “We must change the rules of the game. The Muslim Brotherhood and all its offshoots should be banned. You cannot fight an organization that does not believe in the system via the system. You must remove the mask covering up the true nature of radical Islamism in the West. In Hungary, they understood it. The time has come for others to do so as well.”
