Perhaps the time has come for Israel to stop thinking in terms of "terrorists" and "terror acts" when relating to organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas which seek to destroy it.Simpler to term such organizations as the "enemy".
The terminology of terrorism has lead to a double standard which only has adverse effects on those trying to counter terrorism. The terrorist can attack civilians directly without having to justify his behavior - he is a terrorist and kills civilians in order to pursue his objectives. On the other hand, the country countering terror is not permitted to directly target civilians in order to pursue his objectives. Israel has killed civilians in Lebanon but only indirectly whilst trying to target Hezbollah rocket launchers. The Hezbollah targets Israeli civilians directly.Therefore the Hezbollah has a distinct advantage over Israel. From its point of view if it were only to target the Israeli military it would achieve far less than it has by directly targetting civilians.
Why not even the moral playing field and term both sides as mutual enemies where all is fair in love and war? Were Israel to directly target civilians as did Britain when it destroyed Dresden in World War Two, it might actually succeed in convincing civilians that shelter the Hezbollah that it is very much not in their interests to do so.
Once this become clear to people anywhere that permit such organizations to act from within population centres that their lives are going to be deliberately targeted, then they may finally understand that these organizations actions are self-detrimental in the extreme.
By freeing itself of the need to term someone or some organization as being terrorist, Israel will no longer have to fight with one hand tied behind its back.Finally it would absolve all of us from becoming embroiled in the futile "who is a terrorist debate".Futile, because Israel's primary goal is its survival and that of its people and no amount of moral superiority can prevent the deliberate (as opposed to incidental) deaths of innocent people murdered by Hezbollah rockets.
