Commentator Melanie Phillips warned that the West is failing to recognize the nature of the conflict it faces, arguing that the war against Israel is part of a broader Islamist campaign against Western civilization.
Speaking at the JNS International Policy Summit, Phillips said the past week had been "a shocking one," criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to pursue a ceasefire with Iran.
"President Trump produced a ceasefire agreement that seems to have been dictated by Tehran," she said. "He and Israel had it on the ropes... So, why did he suddenly release the pressure, throw away his advantage, and hand Iran the power to dictate events?"
Phillips argued that the US, Britain, and Europe "do not properly understand the war being waged against them all."
"This is an unprecedented and seismic moment in history," she said. "The onslaught upon Israel and the Jewish world is coming at us from all sides."
She described the October 7 massacre as a defining test for the West.
"The barbarities of October 7th presented the West with a challenge. Would it choose civilization or barbarism?" she said. "Much of the West we can now see, alas, has turned its back on civilization."
According to Phillips, "what we are seeing is, first and foremost, an Islamist war against the West being waged through an onslaught against Israel and the Jews."
She argued that Western governments have failed to connect the threat facing Israel with their own security interests and criticized what she described as an unwillingness to take the measures necessary to defend themselves.
Discussing the US, Phillips said Americans do not believe the conflict with Iran affects their own interests despite decades of attacks by the Iranian regime.
"What this means... is that everyone can now see America is not prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to defend itself," she said.
Turning to Britain and Europe, Phillips criticized policies of multiculturalism and mass immigration, arguing that political leaders have refused to confront Islamist extremism.
"The political and cultural elites in the West won't even admit this is happening, denouncing instead anyone who sounds the alarm as Islamophobic, racist or fascist," she said.
Phillips also addressed the rise in antisemitism since October 7.
"No one wants to hear about Jewish victimization. No one wants to hear about anti-Semitism. All the guardrails against Jew hatred have come down," she said.
She argued that anti-Zionism has become the vehicle for hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people, claiming that "wall-to-wall falsehoods about Israel's behavior" have portrayed Zionism as evil.
Phillips said the West could still reverse course if it recognized the nature of the threat it faces.
"These evil forces are strong only because their victims in Britain, Europe and America are weak," she said. "They're weak because they will not do what it takes to defend themselves."
She called on the US to stop negotiating with Iran and instead "fight through blockades or kinetic war or boots on the ground wherever necessary."
Phillips also urged Britain and Europe to take stronger measures against Islamist extremism and immigration from what she described as "the most troubling areas in the Muslim world."
Concluding her remarks, Phillips praised Israel's response since October 7.
"Since October 7, Israel has fought like a lion," she said. "Israel will survive because Israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself."
Calling Israel "the heroic warrior nation defending the whole civilized world," she concluded, "This is the Jewish moment."