That is a very inclusive and fairly objective, yet concise summery of a complex situation.

One point worth adding might be to cover Netanyahu's support of funding from Qatar to Hamas, as a way to undercut the PA and the possibility of any Palestinian state. Given Qatar is a monarchy and tends to play the role of moderator, it seems likely they would have as willingly given the money to the PA and Hamas would be one more radical fringe group.

That aside, is there any way to step back far enough to examine the basic concept driving this degree of absolutist conflict; Monotheism?

The essential flaw of which is that ideals are not absolutes. Truth, beauty, platonic forms are ideals.

The creeds, codes, heroes, narratives at the core of every society are ideals.

The universal, on the other hand, is the elemental.

A spiritual absolute would be the essence of sentience, from which we rise, not an ideal of wisdom and judgement, from which we fell. More the light shining through and animating the film, than the narratives playing out on it.

Morality is not absolute, because if it were, it could not be transgressed, like a temperature below absolute zero. It is the ideals holding together any society, without which they break apart. Tower of Babel.

Democracy and republicanism originated in pantheistic cultures. Ancient Israel was a monarchy. The Big Guy Rules, like the religion.

Greek mythology grew out of fertility rites, where the young god was born in the spring, to the old sky god and the earth mother. Though by the age of the Olympians, Zeus didn't give way to Dionysus. Tradition prevailed over renewal. As the old are loathe to give way to the young.

Which provided fertile ground for the story of Jesus.

Though by the time Rome adopted it as state religion, it too had started to calcify, so the monotheism served to validate the Empire rising from the ashes of the Republic, will the origins of the Trinity were shrouded in the Holy Ghost.

Providing the eschatological basis for European monarchy. Divine right of kings, as opposed to consent of the govened.

When the West went back to democracy and republicanism, it required separation of church and state, culture and civics.

The problem for Israel is there is this 2000 year gap of civic development. The fact is that there are centripetal and centrifugal forces in every society, liberal, conservative, young, old.

That Israel is comprised of very cosmopolitan Westerners and very conservative Easterners, along with anyone else viewed as ethnically Jewish, it was evident these forces were tearing the society apart, prior to Oct 7th. That they have since come back together, over stomping on Gaza , but is it strategically wise?

Consider the US doing happy dances across the Middle East is an evident failure, as we've gifted Iraq to the Iranians and Afghanistan to the Taliban and spent trillions doing it, even though we got to wave the flag and feel good about it.

When that exponential debt can no longer be sustained, expenses will be cut and all those pictures across Gaza will be part of the decision making process.