Netanyahu’s dilemma

As the Israeli security cabinet meeting on halting or deepening the ground offensive continues, several aspects of Netanyahu’s dilemma are worth highlighting:

One, the prime minister does not want to significantly expand the ground offensive;

Two, international criticism of Israel is growing; Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who was here just last week, has been quoted warning that Israel that it is undermining its support in the West with its military action;

Three, most Israelis do want intensified military action against Hamas, and

Four: Hamas is not urgently seeking an end to the conflict. The Israeli gambit of unilaterally holding its fire from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. has emphatically not been matched by Hamas, which is firing rockets at Israel as we write.

Complicating Netanyahu’s considerations still further is the strained relationship with the US, whose president told him on Sunday he wanted an unconditional, immediate ceasefire, and whose secretary of state infuriated Israel by engaging with Hamas-championing Qatar and Turkey.

As for Egypt, whose ceasefire proposal Israel accepted two weeks ago, it is not particularly interested in expediting a ceasefire so long as Hamas is being battered. President Sissi is said to be unwilling to host a Palestinian delegation for talks until the guns fall silent.

And then there’s the fact that some of those at his security cabinet table — specifically Foreign Minister Liberman and Economy Minister Bennett — are openly taking a position at odds with his own, and urging that Israel smash Hamas.