Try to imagine the angst Netanyahu is experiencing. He knows that when he orders the ground invasion of Gaza, those helpless hostages will be savagely murdered. He also knows that his enthusiastic, young soldiers are mostly combat inexperienced, will face hard urban fighting, and are likely to take significant casualties. He also knows his political career will soon be over. The failure of Israeli intelligence to detect the arsenal buildup up in Gaza ( or the failure to inform him) and the insecure, inadequately defended border for whatever reason happened on his watch. It is likely that when he leaves office , his goal of removing the great existential threat to Israel, the Iranian mullah regime, will remain unfullfilled. Netanyahu is facing horrible decisions and will in his heart , despite his many accomplishments, consider himself a failure. It is a story of biblical proportions.
They're still waiting the 'correct' Messiah; so they have that going for them.