Islamic State (IS) has already managed to obtain chemical weapons and has put them to use in the battlefield. In Europe, meanwhile, it may have tried to target nuclear facilities in Brussels. While it is currently unlikely to obtain an actual nuclear weapon, write Emily Landau and Shimon Stein, one or another terrorist group could very well use radioactive material in an attack:

To be sure, the threat of nuclear terrorism is not new. . . . But events surrounding the Brussels attacks raise the possibility of intent being joined by capability, if Islamic State terrorists are able to exploit the security vulnerabilities of nuclear facilities, . . . either to attack these sites or steal materials from within. A radiological attack could occur through dispersion of radioactive materials from a drone . . . or by an attack on a nuclear facility that released these materials. . . .

The recent attempts in Brussels by members of Islamic State to sabotage and gain access to material and know-how in the nuclear realm highlight the urgency, and underscore that the international community must do its utmost at the national, regional, and global levels to deny the terrorists that possibility. . . .

What might be Israel’s contribution to these international efforts? Israel has been a part of President Obama’s nuclear-security initiative from the start, and has actively participated in all of the [relevant] summits with high-level delegations. Israel attributes great importance to the issue, especially in light of the increase in nuclear programs throughout the Middle East. [At the most] recent summit, Israel noted that it is prepared for the scenario of a radiological attack; moreover, it is prepared to help other states in the region prevent the smuggling of radioactive materials into their territory. Indeed, this is an issue that could be discussed in a regional framework, if a regional security dialogue were to be initiated in the Middle East.

Two extraordinary events demonstrate something important about Israel’s most fervent adversaries. One was a speech given at something called The People’s Forum (funded generously by Goldman Sachs), which stated, “When the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism.”

The suggestion that this tiny state is the linchpin of a global, centuries-old phenomenon like capitalism goes well beyond anything resembling rational criticism. Even if Israel were guilty of genocide, apartheid, and oppression—which of course it is not—it would not follow that its destruction would help end capitalism or imperialism.

The other was an anti-Israel protest that took place in front of New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, deemed “complicit” in Israel’s evils. At organizers’ urging, participants shouted their slogans at kids in the cancer ward, who were watching from the windows. Given Hamas’s indifference toward the lives of Gazan children, such callousness toward non-Palestinian children from Hamas’s Western allies shouldn’t be surprising. The protest—like the abovementioned speech—deliberately conveyed the message that Israel is the ultimate evil and its destruction the ultimate good, cancer patients be damned.

The fact that Israel’s adversaries are almost comically perverse does not mean that they can be dismissed. If its allies fail to understand the obsessive and irrational hatred that it faces, they cannot effectively help it defend itself.