Why neither side wants to end the war – yet

It is very clear that for very different reasons, neither the democratically elected extreme right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, nor their opponents, the Islamo-fascist Hamas, want to end the war in Gaza.

Both have much to gain from killing civilians. and nine months after Hamas initiated the butchery on October 7 that we have seen played on our televisions every night since, there is no prospect of an end.

Netanyahu seems impervious to calls to settle a deal, from the families and supporters of the hostages in Gaza, from the US and other Israel allies, or from his own former and serving ministers and staff.

Why so?

Occam’s Razor says choose the most direct and obvious answer. In Netanyahu’s case, the longer the war continues, the longer he retains the support of his right-wing coalition and, hence, the longer he remains prime minister, avoiding the Israeli courts on multiple corruption charges.

War doesn’t always bring out the best in leadership. Look at these shining examples: Great Britain’s Margaret Thatcher was deposed during the war on Iraq and Australia’s John Howard took Australia to a second war against Iraq based entirely on a known lie at the time – along with that great war-time US President George W Bush and the UK’s war-time Prime Minister Tony Blair.

And on the other side, Hamas is similarly not for turning.