Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday said Israel is on the front lines of a “civilizational struggle against radical, apocalyptic Islam” and that understanding the true motives of the Islamic State terrorist group is paramount.

“Today, Israel stands on the front lines of our civilizational struggle against radical, apocalyptic Islam,” the Florida senator said at the Republican Jewish Coalition presidential candidates forum. “And this term, apocalyptic Islam — it is not an attempt to be provocative. It is an attempt to be accurate. It is descriptive of the true beliefs of the leaders of both Iran and the Islamic State.”

Mr. Rubio said the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, named their online publication “Dabiq” because according to their interpretation of prophecy, “they believe that there is going to be a final, apocalyptic showdown between the west and Islam in the city of Dabiq.”

“They believe that it is their calling to trigger this apocalyptic showdown,” he said. “And therefore, when they recruit fighters, what they are recruiting them for is to be a part of this army that is going to trigger this final showdown between the west and Islam, that Islam will win, and then the whole world will be governed under their set of rules led by the emergence of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi — their messianic figure.

“When you understand it, you realize these are not people you can negotiate with,” he said. “These are not people that are going to go out of business. These are not individuals that are disgruntled or unemployed. These are not people that are upset because American troops were deployed in Iraq.

“These are individuals with an apocalyptic vision of the future, and they will not stop until they feel they have succeeded in triggering this apocalypse,” he said. “It, by the way, is similar to the views held by the Ayatollah in Iran. And so when people that have an apocalyptic vision of the future are growing in their capabilities in the case of ISIS, or trying to acquire a nuclear weapon in the case of Iran, you understand why it is that in many cases, diplomacy and engagement does not work, and in the case of ISIS has no chance of working.

“We face a very fundamental choice: either they win or we win,” he said. “There is no other possible outcome.”

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.