While Netanyahu legitimizes genocide in Gaza, makes mistakes and fancies himself as Captain America, Trump throws a lifeline to Israel

Israel's decision to break the cease-fire with Hamas on March 18 is emerging as the second major blunder of the Gaza war, after the blindness and willful neglect that led to the disastrous failure to anticipate the Hamas attack, and the ineffective response on October 7 itself.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to resume fighting in Gaza, backed by his new IDF Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, who sought to appear more aggressive than his predecessor. Their bombastic promises to smash Hamas once and for all have trapped the government in a strategic deadlock: Either mobilize most of Israel's reserve divisions for a campaign of "decisive victory, destruction, and emigration" in Gaza, to use the words of Likud MK Moshe Saada, and task the IDF with committing serious war crimes, or heed U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to end the "thousand year war" and admit defeat to Hamas.

The deadline for Israel's decision is set by the end of Trump's tour of the Gulf states, starting on Tuesday. Yet the damage caused by resuming hostilities on March 18 continues to mount, even before Netanyahu makes his move.

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First and foremost, the domestic consensus in Israel around the war, which had united most of Jewish society since October 7, is starting to unravel. Operation "Gideon's Chariots," aimed at destroying Gaza and driving out its Palestinian residents, may excite the imaginations of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his allies on the right, but the broader public no longer views it as a war for Israel's survival. For the first time since the war began, internal opposition has arisen, casting doubt on the reservists' motivation to enlist and risk their lives.

Netanyahu's second failure lies in his misreading of Trump's policy. The prime minister believed he had a free hand from the White House to starve, bomb, kill, deport and settle in Gaza, to join forces with the Americans against the Houthis, and to prepare for a historic strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

But Trump's priorities are different. He wants quiet, and unlike the Biden administration, he has no problem talking directly with the Iranians, the Houthis, and Hamas without involving Israel. Instead of the fiery romance Netanyahu had promised, he now faces an open rift with the new administration.

The full responsibility for this diplomatic failure rests on Netanyahu – "Captain America" in his own eyes and those of his supporters – even if he tries to scapegoat his envoy Ron Dermer. Anyone who sees himself as the heir to Winston Churchill must remember that Britain survived World War II thanks to American support, and Israel needs the backing of the world's superpower no less. The third consequence of resuming hostilities, coupled with the suspension of humanitarian aid to Gaza, has been the legitimization of calls for genocide in Gaza, whether by starvation, bombings, or gunfire, as a legitimate Israeli objective. Instead of the old ethos of "shooting and crying," we now face "killing and rejoicing."

Beyond the moral depravity and the inevitable historical comparisons, and beyond the conscious abandonment of the hostages, there lies a strategic mistake that Netanyahu should have understood. As the British strategist Sir Basil Henry Liddell-Hart – the mentor of Israel's military founders – taught in his classic book, "Strategy: The Indirect Approach", leaving the enemy with its back against the wall only prolongs the war. And once again, as in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon, the IDF is destined to sink into the quagmire and bleed losses, while Palestinian bodies pile up and the survivors' thirst for revenge grows stronger.

And yet it is still not too late to stop the total disaster that Netanyahu promises. On his way to Saudi Arabia, padded with billions in gifts from Gulf rulers, Trump has thrown Israel a lifeline: to halt the war, enter negotiations with Hamas for a cease-fire and the return of the hostages, and give a chance for rehabilitation and recovery on both sides. Netanyahu only needs to say, "Yes, Mr. President."

Aluf Benn

Source: Haaretz