Why—amid critical negotiations to implement President Biden’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israelis held captive by Hamas, and many Palestinians held by Israel, and progress toward a negotiated permanent end to the conflict—would Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu decide to assassinate the chief Hamas negotiator?

And why—while the U.S. claims it is working to deescalate tensions with Lebanon’s Hezbollah—would Israel choose escalation by assassinating Hezbollah’s second-in-command?

We know the answers to both questions: Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t interested in peace. He doesn’t want a negotiated deal to release hostages and end the war in Gaza, nor to deescalate the conflict there or in the north with Hezbollah. And he most certainly doesn’t want a “two-state solution,” which would grant the Palestinian people independence in their own sovereign state.

Netanyahu does want two things that are perversely connected. Above all, he desperately wants to remain in office because, should he lose his post as prime minister, the prosecution of corruption charges against him will continue in full force. The charges are so serious and the evidence so clear that he will likely be convicted and humiliated. This isn’t speculation—it’s widely discussed in Israel. When President Biden was recently asked, “Is Netanyahu prolonging the war for political reasons?” he responded, “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

The second reason is that Netanyahu wants the war to continue and even accelerate. His remarks before Congress and a recent address to the Israeli public made this clear. He seeks “total victory,” defined as more than just the military defeat of Israel’s enemies. Without acknowledging any Israeli culpability, he accused Palestinians of creating a hate-filled culture that requires massive deradicalization in the post-war period—with the ultimate goal being Palestinians accepting Jewish hegemony in Eretz Israel and understanding their place as a conquered, subordinate people.

This messianic Zionist vision, which has long driven Netanyahu, is now seen by him as possible, but only if Israel’s enemies—Iran and its surrogates—are brought to heel, and if Israel can involve the U.S. in their regional conquest.

Netanyahu’s worldview raises several additional questions that must be considered. Knowing that Netanyahu never accepted the Biden plan’s terms, why has the President continued to call it “Israel’s plan” and placed the burden on Hamas to accept it?

Knowing that Netanyahu is unwilling to make any peace agreement for fear of losing his other extremist coalition partners (who have threatened to abandon his government if he accepts any terms leading to peace), why do we continue to dance around that fact?

Why hasn’t the administration condemned the assassinations in Beirut and Iran, knowing they will surely sabotage the negotiators’ efforts? Why, knowing Netanyahu has no intention of completing a deal to release those held captive, do we continue to allow him to exploit their families’ pain, pretending that negotiations are close to completion when they aren’t?

And why, knowing that Netanyahu’s extremist coalition partners’ demands and actions are wreaking havoc in the West Bank and Jerusalem—terrorizing Palestinians, annexing land, building settlements, and erasing the possibility of Palestinian self-determination—has our response been so passive and tolerant?

Let’s be clear: Hamas and Hezbollah are not good actors. The former was born of the brutal and sustained Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, nurtured by Israel to create division in the Palestinian ranks, and fueled by Israel’s ruthless decades-long strangulation of Gaza’s population.

The latter was born of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and its corrupt sectarian system that denied the Shia community adequate representation. It was fueled by Israel’s decades-long occupation of southern Lebanon and the massive devastation of the country’s infrastructure in 2006. Both have certainly engaged in condemnable actions. But to criticize only them, while absolving Israel of its far greater crimes, is hypocritical at best.

If the U.S. were serious about ending conflict in the region, instead of turning a blind eye to Israel’s behaviors deliberately designed to provoke more war, we need to get serious about holding Israel accountable.

This leads to one final question: Why, when we continue to massively supply Israel with weapons and block all efforts to sanction their deplorable behaviors, do we expect that anything will change?