Analysis: The logic behind Israel's Gaza attack, if any, is anyone's guess

The logic of Israel's recent bombing campaign on Gaza is difficult to parse, Middle East Eye contributor and veteran Israeli analyst Meron Rapoport said.

Some have pinned the unprovoked Israeli attack on the looming Israeli elections, but this may not be sufficient to explain the campaign. 

Although Prime Minister Yair Lapid will use the military campaign to "buttress his political standing ahead of Israel's upcoming general elections," previous experience has shown that attacking Gaza has not always translated well for serving prime ministers in future elections. 

Another explanation could be Israel's attempt to undermine Iran, a supporter of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, as well as Hamas. 

But political analysis alone may not be enough to explain Israel's behaviour, Rapoport said.

"Seeking rational explanations for Israel's strange behaviour may be superfluous, because the best explanation may come from the world of social psychology.

"At a certain point, Israel evidently resigned itself to having no goal for the future – whether the goal be the elimination of Palestinian resistance and the collapse of Hamas, as Netanyahu promised before being elected prime minister a second time, in 2009, or the signing of some political agreement with the Palestinians, or even orchestrating their mass expulsion as Israel did in 1948.

"In any of these scenarios, the logic of Israel's recent actions is difficult to parse. Given the context, even an irrational act such as provoking a completely superfluous military conflict in Gaza seems somehow logical."

Read his full analysis below. 

The logic behind Israel's Gaza attack, if any, is anyone's guess