Trump thinks the Israelis are doing badly in Gaza, but not because they’re killing too many Palestinians or avoiding the important political issues; no, his problem with the war is that Israel is losing the public relations battle. In his opinion, the Israelis should unleash shock and awe on the Palestinians as a whole–not just Hamas– and get out of Gaza as quickly as possible. That will stop the bleeding.
What Trump doesn’t understand, of course, is that Gaza is not Afghanistan. The Israelis don’t have the option of just withdrawing and washing their hands of the war, because the enemy is next door. Furthermore, the way they fight the war should be dictated by their ultimate political objectives, which have yet to be defined. Bouncing the rubble is not a viable approach to a complex problem with vast implications for Israel’s future.