Dermer: Confront ISIS in Syria Before It Hits Home

The United States of America could be the next target of ISIS terror if the insurgent terrorist group is not confronted and defeated in Syria, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said Monday.

Speaking to reporters after addressing the 4th annual gathering of the Birthright Israel Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia, Dermer said: “I’m sure that President Obama and President Hollande are thinking very clearly what they have to do now because this is a pretty dramatic attack and it may be the first of many attacks that are coming. And there’s no question that the United States, France and its allies have the power to defeat this. I think they just have to have the will and the right strategy to do it.”

“We have pretty good information about things relating to Syria because it’s a country that borders us – so anything we can do to help France to defend itself against these attacks we are doing and we will continue to do,” he added.

Dermer also linked the Paris attacks to the terror directed at Israel by Palestinian terrorists and Hamas in Gaza. “What is Israel is facing when its citizens are stabbed or its buses blown up or rockets are fired at its cities, is the same thing that they faced in Paris,” the Ambassador said. “In their vision of society, there is no place for Jews, for Christians, for America, for Israel – even for Muslims. There is no place for anyone who doesn’t believe in their fanaticism.”

Adding, “It’s very important for the world to unite, and I hope that in the wake of these heinous and outrageous attacks [in Paris] that you’ll see people support Israel more in its fight against these Islamist militants – because our fight is essentially their fight.”

On Sunday, Dermer addressed the historic “Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church” in Atlanta, the church where Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr. preached. The lesson of the recent terror attacks in Paris is not being learned by world leaders when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dermer said. “You see, many people continue to believe that the root cause of terrorism is poverty or the deprivation of rights. But think about that for a second. Was Osama bin Laden poor? I don’t remember him or any of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 standing on line at soup kitchens. They were relatively wealthy and well-educated,” he asserted. “Bangladesh and Haiti are two of the poorest countries in the world. How many Bangladeshi and Haitian terrorists have you heard of? And what about Dr. King, was he and his followers deprived of their rights? You know they were. But did Dr. King champion murdering the innocent? Of course not.”

AJC and the Jerusalem Post contributed to this report