Netanyahu’s far right instincts and political interests converge in Gaza

Long viewed as a narcissistic, opportunistic cat with nine lives, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is driven as much by his ultranationalist ideology as by a quest for political survival, irrespective of the cost to human life and Israel's national interest.

Mr. Netanyahu’s ideological beliefs and his personal interests converged in the s-month-old Gaza war, allowing him to unnecessarily prolong the killing of Palestinians and reduce the Strip to an uninhabitable pile of rubble.

Like Mr. Netanyahu, Hamas has refused to compromise on basic principles designed to shape Gaza’s future and counter the prime minister’s war objectives that are about far more than Gaza’s immediate future.

Mr. Netanyahu is determined to ensure that the terms of a permanent ceasefire squash Palestinian national aspirations and preclude the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, while Hamas is hellbent on keeping the door open to Palestinian statehood.