A Deeper Look At The Israel-Gaza Conflict

With Guest Host John Harwood.

The escalated Gaza offensive.  We’ll get the views from both sides and the latest developments.

The death toll in Gaza keeps mounting – hundreds of Palestinians and more than 25 Israeli soldiers. So does the cycle of mutual recrimination. Israel says it can’t tolerate Hamas rockets fired into its territory. Palestinians say they can’t tolerate oppressive conditions in Gaza.  President Obama has demanded  an immediate cease-fire. Can Secretary of State  John Kerry make it happen? We’ll ask Israel’s Ambassador to the US, and experts on Israel, Palestinian and American policy. This hour, On Point: searching for an end to this war in Gaza.
-- John Harwood

Ambassador Ron Dermer, current Israeli ambassador to the United States. (@AmbDermer)

Aaron David Miller, vice president for new initiatives and distinguished scholar the Wilson Center's Middle East Program. Former U.S. diplomat. Author of 'The Much Too Promised Land," "The Arab States and the Palestine Question" and "The PLO And The Politics of Survival." (@aarondmiller2)

Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the Jerusalem Fund. (@YousefMunayyer)

Shlomo Brom, senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.

POLITICO Magazine: Why Israel Launched a Ground War in Gaza — "After days of ominous buildup, it’s finally happening: Israel has launched a ground incursion into Gaza. But why, you say? War, what’s it good for? Israel’s Iron Dome has kept the home front safe; Hamas’ rejection of the Egyptian cease-fire offer has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the political high ground; and there’s a big risk of losing it if Israel charges into Gaza and ends up killing many more Palestinian civilians. Which it inevitably will."

The New Republic: The Explosive, Inside Story of How John Kerry Built an Israel-Palestine Peace Plan—and Watched It Crumble -- "Benjamin Netanyahu and John Kerry first met each other in the mid-’70s, in Boston, when Netanyahu (better known as Bibi) worked there as a management consultant. Years later, during Kerry’s frequent trips to Israel as a senator, the two would typically get together for catch-up dinners; it never seemed to bother them that their politics were so different."

Al Jazeera America: For Netanyahu, Gaza war’s risks are rising — "The intensity of Hamas’ resistance to Israel’s ground invasion has surprised the Israelis, according to that country’s military analysts. And as causalities mount on both sides, Netanyahu faces the danger that Operation Protective Edge could leave him politically weakened at home, while it enables Hamas to reestablish its resistance credentials."