The public pushed the destruction of Hamas aside in favor of rescuing the hostages, According to Nimrod Nir, a psychologist who led the Hebrew University survey research, "Our polling shows that the Israeli people were consistently ahead of the decision makers on this. As they learned about who Hamas was holding and under what conditions, the pressure to do something grew."

Link to Middle East Forum site:

https://www.meforum.org/65275/the-rapid-return-of-israel-disastrous-policy