Irish Examiner view: Netanyahu has no incentive to stop waging war on innocent Palestinians

Realists feel that the Israeli leader is being emboldened by US reluctance to condemn him more forcefully

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies have stigmatised Israel internationally and left it open to accusations — which it strongly denies — that it is pursuing a policy of genocide against the Palestinians. Picture: Abir Sultan/AP

Israel’s war in Gaza — having already cost an estimated 32,000 lives and wreaked havoc and starvation on a largely innocent population — is dragging on. So too is the tenure of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His dwindling number of supporters maintain Israel has to cripple Hamas to ensure there is no repeat of the October 7 massacres, hence his unwillingness to thus far accept a ceasefire. His growing number of critics say he is only prosecuting the war to save his political hide.