Despite what it says in public, the Netanyahu government knows that Hamas cannot be eliminated by force and that the attempt to do so will only radicalize far more people, both in Palestine and around the world against Israel. Those people will take action, be it violent or not, against Israel in the years to come. Only a fool doesn’t know that. And whatever else the Israeli leadership may be, they are not fools. So what is their endgame?
They have made it clear that they do not prioritize the release of the hostages being held in Gaza. If they did, they would long ago have found a path to a ceasefire to secure the hostages’ release, a path that has already been proven to be effective, while Israel’s assault has gotten dozens of hostages killed already.
So if the stated goals are false — and they clearly are — it leaves one wondering what Israel’s endgame really is. Is there some goal in Israeli actions that is not being stated? The events of recent days suggest that we may be seeing that endgame take shape…..more
