All these capricious rules changes left Israel very few options to prevent its own destruction. Recently, Israel has relied more and more on intelligence that enables the targeted assassinations of terrorists. This reduces if not altogether removes collateral damage, while having the advantage of de-escalating, even if temporarily, the conflict by hamstringing a terrorist army planning to attack. At times, Israeli attacks have been so precise as to be targeted maiming of terrorists, as were many cases in the pager plot.

Now Walzer, Panetta, and the empty crayon box known as The Squad (plus foreign governments and the United Nations) have come out against targeted maiming. Why? Because it’s the last plausible way for Israel to defend itself before the Jewish state becomes a sitting duck, patiently awaiting its own destruction.