What is irrational about wanting to remove a hostile force on your borders when said hostile force has stated that it's goal is the destruction of your state?
Israel has certainly made mistakes, but it is not acting irrationally.
Recognition of Palestine is an empty gesture that does nothing for Palestinians. The commitments from European nations and Canada are based on promises from a corrupt body. Read a book about the history of the region and you'll see that such promises mean nothing, no matter who makes them - European powers or Arab governments.
Current promises are more about domestic politics than anything else.
Hamas are the ones that willingly sacrificed the population of Gaza in their salafist quest to destroy Israel. Debate the war, say the war is horrible, but Hamas started this particular war. Civilian casualties are the entire point of their strategy.