With condemnation growing after horrific deaths in Rafah, new pressure could push Netanyahu toward ending the war.

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Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported, “Egypt’s military said one of its soldiers was shot dead during an exchange of fire in the Rafah area, without providing further details. Israel said it was in contact with Egyptian authorities, and both sides said they were investigating.” And both these deadly events came just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a vaguely worded opinion that Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The ICJ ruling (to which Israel and the United States object strenuously), the Rafah deaths and the Egyptian exchange collectively intensify the impression of recklessness, disarray and arrogance in a military operation already facing criticism for lack of a viable strategic plan. After so many warnings about Israel’s obligation to minimize civilian casualties and, specifically, to forgo a full-scale invasion into densely populated Rafah (forcing nearly 1 million people to flee), the backlash to Netanyahu’s conduct of the war intensifies. Already, domestic opposition is coalescing.

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Yair Lapid, the opposition leader and chairman of Yesh Atid, and Avigdor Lieberman, the Yisrael Beytenu chairman, met with New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday “to discuss the formation of an alternative government,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “Sources in the opposition said the three parties are taking steps to overthrow the government and combine different parties to form a new government.” They are also planning to include war cabinet member Benny Gantz, who has vowed to leave the emergency cabinet and pull his centrist party out of Netanyahu’s coalition if there is no postwar plan by June 8.

In sum, Netanyahu faces loud and harsh criticism from all sides: the international community, the Biden administration, members of the U.S. Congress, current and retired Israeli military officials, and mass protests that have become increasingly antagonistic toward him. Though the sources are different, the complaints (e.g., no strategic plan, not enough focus on the hostages, insufficient attention to mass civilian casualties, courting of international scorn, vile public comments that engender international legal action) are largely the same. The criticism has intensified in the aftermath of the latest civilian disaster and might help shift momentum in favor of a cease-fire.

Meanwhile, the initial response from the Biden administration was exceptionally cautious, to the dismay of critics who imagine President Biden has the power to control the Netanyahu government. A National Security Council spokesman initially called the deaths........

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