On the anti-leader – Harel in Haaretz:

‘Three of the hostages – Yotam Haim and Alon Shamriz of Kibbutz Kfar Azza and Samer Talalka of the Bedouin town of Hura – somehow managed to escape their captors and approach the Israeli force in the neighborhood. But what should have been a moment of hope and rescue turned within seconds into a terrible tragedy, when the soldiers mistakenly shot them dead.

A preliminary inquiry into the incident, as presented to the families and the media, points to a long series of hair-raising errors. It appears that the soldiers acted recklessly, in violation of the rules of engagement of the Israel Defense Forces, and in a manner that endangered the hostages and civilians in general.

That said, the circumstances in which the incident occurred must also be taken into account. The ground operation in the Gaza Strip began over six weeks ago. In Shujaiyeh in particular, heavy fighting has been taking place for about two weeks, and on Tuesday nine servicemen, from the Golani Brigade and the Israel Air Force's elite rescue unit 669, were killed in the area.’

(…)

‘That said, the circumstances in which the incident occurred must also be taken into account. The ground operation in the Gaza Strip began over six weeks ago. In Shujaiyeh in particular, heavy fighting has been taking place for about two weeks, and on Tuesday nine servicemen, from the Golani Brigade and the Israel Air Force's elite rescue unit 669, were killed in the area.’

(…)

‘Two goals of the war are now clashing once again. It's difficult to see how it is possible to both dismantle the Hamas regime and negotiate the release of all the hostages. At least in the immediate term, the latter is more likely to bolster Hamas than to weaken it.
As a result, we are now hearing a lot of empty declarations and seeing little actual progress. A diplomatic source has confirmed that Mossad director David Barnea and Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met in Europe and discussed the release of hostages.’

(…)

‘Two of them, soldiers in the liaison unit at the Erez checkpoint, had been photographed in Gaza alive after the abduction. The conclusion is that either Hamas deliberately kills hostages, as has happened several times, or that they die under other circumstances, due to the conditions in captivity or IDF attacks.
All of this, quite rightly, creates enormous anxiety in the families and increases their demand for the hostages' release under any condition.’

(…)

‘Thursday's arrival in Israel of Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, facilitated a better understanding of the gap in the U.S. and Israeli positions. Sullivan expressed support for Israel and its just war against Hamas, but privately he again demanded that the IDF draw down troop numbers and change the nature of the attack in the Gaza Strip within about three weeks.’

(…)

‘The IDF's enormous dependence on U.S.-manufactured munitions and other supplies further increases America's bargaining power over Israel. Last week, too, huge U.S. transport planes brought arms and equipment to Israel, for its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to bolster the IDF's capabilities ahead of a potential war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Washington's generosity and kindness do not come without a price tag: The government will have to coordinate its next moves with the Biden administration and take its positions into account. This is certainly true when the regional crisis is escalating and now includes a systematic disruption of maritime traffic in the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks from Yemen on the orders of Iran.’

Read the article here.

First it was the end of the hostilities before Christmas, not it’s somewhere mid-January. Biden must have changed his mind or the progress of the IDF is slower than expected, whatever we mean by progress here.

The anti-leader Netanyahu does not care for the hostages, he does not care his own people nor any other people. Democratic elected leaders can be a enormous danger, also to the people who voted for him. It happened before. It will happen again.

The disruption of maritime traffic in the Red Sea thanks to Houthi attacks might turn this war into a bigger regional war. Not Hezbollah but another ally of Iran is lighting the matches.