In 1981, Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin ordered the Israeli Air Force to destroy the nuclear plant in Iraq, where Iraq was developing a nuclear weapon. Mr. Begin did this primarily because of the potential threat of such a weapon to Israel's very existence.

It was clear, however, that there was a secondary motive: He was warning the world that the greatest threat to the future of the planet would not come from the Soviet-American confrontation, then at its height, because neither party was suicidal. Rather it would come from rogue states or terrorist groups moved by national and ideological megalomania and possessing weapons of mass destruction.

His message: Words and international resolutions are meaningless in the face of such a threat. Preemptive action is the only real deterrent. Unfortunately, the world was deaf to this lesson and largely remained so even during the gulf crisis when it was pointed out how different America's reaction to Saddam's invasion of Kuwait would have been had Saddam had nuclear weapons.

The horror of the World Trade Center and Pentagon terror attacks now have made us understand. The need to go to war against the terrorists, as articulated by President Bush, is not for justice, though that in itself is a powerful motivating force. It is primarily because we have to seriously and quickly conceive and implement policies of deterrence. After all, those commercial jetliners that were hijacked and rammed our national symbols could have been carrying biological weapons that would have resulted in mass destruction far greater than the horrendous destruction suffered here. And that could be next.

Policies of deterrence will undoubtedly be complex, including significant security measures here in the U.S. Civil liberties concerns and the need to maintain public support for long-term inconvenience will temper such efforts. Therefore, the primary deterrent activity will be U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic work overseas. We will take the war to them. The message of preemptive action will have finally at great cost, been internalized. Of course, there will be those here and abroad who will try to divert our government and people from its necessary mission. One way is the suggestion that this happened because U.S. support of Israel breeds hatred of us in the Arab world. If only America had backed off from Israel, it is said, none of this would have happened.

Fortunately, those distortions are scarcely heard, but inevitably as time goes on more voices to this effect will surface. It should be so obvious how patently absurd such charges are, but it is important to explain why.

The Islamic extremists who are undoubtedly behind this operation have one major goal, clearly and repeatedly stated by them. They want to take over the Middle East and make it a region controlled by Islamic extremism. They would like to start by taking over Saudi Arabia and move from there. The great obstacle to doing so is of course the United States. The American presence in Saudi Arabia and willingness to protect other states in the region from extremists, whether Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden, make America the prime enemy. In addition, it is American culture, so predominant everywhere in the world, that stands in direct opposition to the medieval, anti-democratic ideology of the Islamic extremists. If Israel did not exist, Osama bin Laden and his cohorts would still see America as their prime enemy.

Let us also keep in mind, as Fouad Ajami has noted, that even if the Palestinian issue was central to the thinking of these terrorists, and clearly it is not, that an agreement for peace and coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians would enrage the extremists even further, because they believe that the only way to deal with Israel is to eliminate it.

The simple truth which the administration, Congress, and overwhelmingly, the majority of Americans realize is that this catastrophe is the beginning of the greatest challenge to Western democratic life since Adolf Hitler. Israel is relevant to this threat, but only in the sense that Israel stands for the same values as America, that Israel has had much experience, unfortunately, in dealing with terrorism which we can learn from and that Israel will be a loyal ally - strategically, militarily, and emotionally - in this long-term struggle for the very future of the world.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.