Islamic State has released a video of the beheading 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya. In Turkey, the Islamic authorities attacked Pope Francis for his mention of the “Armenian genocide” (1.5 million Apostolic Christians slaughtered in a planned Jihad a century ago).

The free world stayed silent, as did the International Court in The Hague which decided there are no bases to open an investigation on ISIS.

The White House and the United Nations refused to stand with the Pope in his rare moral stance against genocidal Islamism.

Meanwhile, Israel has been abandoned by the United States, which is forging an alliance with the Islamic Republic.

We decide to talk with Norman Podhoretz, founding father of neoconservatism, recipient of the Medal of Freedom (the America’s highest civilian honor) and famous Jewish intellectual icon who  authored twelve historic books.

1. Isis just beheaded Christians in Libya, something we have seen everywhere in the last year. How do you judge the Western silence in the face of this immense tragedy? 

What we have been seeing is a complete loss of moral and political nerve in the West in the face of what I persist in calling Islamofascism, whether Sunni  (ISIS) or Shiite (Iran). 

2. How do you explain this loss of nerve in the West?

I think that the loss of nerve in Europe is due to a number of factors: the spread of relativism in the form of multiculturalism; the demographic changes brought about by low birthrates and the influx of large numbers of Muslims; the progressive weakening of the Christian faith; and the erosion of patriotic pride fostered by the international institutions that have infringed upon national sovereignty.

All these factors have served to undermine the self-confidence, and even the self-respect of the West. Although they have all been at play in the United States as well, especially since the advent of Obama, the decline here has not been as steep. This is why, in my opinion, it can be reversed if a strong Republican President takes over in 2017, just as it was when Ronald Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter (whose administration  in many respects resembled Obama's)

3. Do you see any historical example for this decline?

I suppose the closest historical precedent is the decline of the Roman empire which, at least according to Gibbon, was brought about by the rise of Christianity.

4. It seems that Obama abandoned not only these Middleastern Christians, but also the Israeli Jews. How do you see this historic retreat in front of evil?

Obama is so determined to forge a detente, or even an alliance, with Iran that he will allow nothing to stand in the way. Thus he is  moving toward a deal that will permit the Iranians to become a nuclear power and thereby to  to make good on their repeatedly declared genocidal intention to wipe Israel off the map.

5. Iran is going to manifacture an atomic bomb during or after the historic deal it signed in Switzerland. How can Israel respond to this existential threat? 

As is clear to anyone with eyes to see, the only way to stop Iran from getting the bomb is by bombing its nuclear installations. It is inconceivable that Obama will take such action, which means that it is now entirely up to Israel. I believe that Netanyahu is ready and able to do the job, but I also believe that Obama will try to stop him by threatening to withhold the diplomatic support and the resupply of equipment that Israel would need. If Obama succeeds in preventing a conventional Israeli attack now, he will set the stage for a nuclear war later.

7. How do you explain Obama’s abandonment of Israel? 

The leftist milieu in which he acquired his political education from a very early age was all anti-Israel, including the minister of the church he attended for twenty years. He therefore always believed that Israel was the guilty party in its war with the Palestinians and the main obstacle to peace between them. When Netanyahu resisted his pressures to make more and more concessions to the Palestinians, he became even more hostile to Israel. And when Netanyahu turned out to be the most formidable obstacle to his quest for a detente with Iran, he hardly even bothered to disguise his hostility any longer.

He has now reached the point where he makes light of the existential danger to Israel from an Iranian bomb. I judge this behavior to be morally monstrous and politically stupid.