The thing that you need to consider is the 90%+ approval of the IDF’s actions. Like he says at the end, they’re aware. And yet, 90+% of the population does not say that the IDF has gone too far. Well over 90% of their population either outright approved of what the IDF has been doing, or even more shockingly, they don’t think the IDF is being harsh enough. That’s a problem. It’s one of the leading reasons that saying “if Bibi and/or his policies were seen as so horrible in the country, why has there been no effective opposition?” is a valid argument.
We also need to remember something else: when Labour was that equal counterweight to Likud, their policies in the Occupied Territories were not all that different from Likud. In fact in a lot of ways, they were worse.
The only time Israel ever suspended the use of torture as being a legal tactic for the IDF used was by Begin (only for two years, but a suspension nonetheless). Labour never had a P.M. that suspended torture.
Prior to his death, Yitzhak Rabin used to brag that he’d demolished more houses than any Likud leader.
And speaking of Rabin, his record of settlement expansion in the West Bank was worse than that of Shamir.
Housing permits and constructions went up faster during Barak’s tenure than under Bibi’s first regime in the 90’s. Of course Netanyahu is now clear in the lead on most of the aforementioned issues because he’s the longest serving prime minister in Israel’s history…but that also bolsters what Finkelstein says about him being a reflection of the society: he’s the longest serving P.M. in history.
So it’s not like Bibi is facing a formidable counter from the Knesset or from the population in general. Israel’s record in the OT on human rights has been atrocious in generals. We are not living in a reality where any of us can paint a rosie red picture of “well the United States and the more-left parties in Israel could achieve a settlement, but it’s just those damn Likudniks with their right wing Barbarism.” To me, that’s every bit as reality-optional as this notion of blaming everything on the Palestinians.