Israel has a fateful choice: Rafah or Riyadh

The idea of wiping out Hamas "once and for all" is a pipe dream, in the Saudi view. If Israel wants to continue to do special operations in Gaza to get the leadership, no problem. But no boots permanently on the ground. Please get to a full ceasefire and hostage release as soon as possible and focus instead on the US-Saudi-Israeli-Palestinian security-normalisation deal. That is the other road that Israel could take right now - the one that no major Israeli opposition leader is arguing for as the top priority, but the one that the Biden administration and the Saudis,…