Targeting populations as a tactic for imposing consequences on power, and trying to pressure policy-makers to change, is an ineffective strategy for the reasons I have listed repeatedly; however, even to this rule, there is a notable exception: Israel. The single most crucial element of the Zionist project is demographics. The Jewish population within Israel matters tremendously to policy-makers; indeed, Zionism depends entirely on their numbers.
Insecurity within Israel has a direct impact on immigration, both on the potential of bringing new Jewish immigrants and on the viability of preventing current immigrants from abandoning Israel and going home.
Conventional tactics designed to spread fear among the population, therefore, have greater strategic validity in Israel than anywhere else. The danger, of course, is that these tactics will provide the pretext for savage Israeli attacks on Gaza and the West Bank (as is always the case); nevertheless, the point remains; even though Israel depends on the myth of insecurity to argue for continuous funding and international support, if there is real insecurity, the project will suffer a shortage of Jewish immigration, and this is a fundamental threat to Israel’s viability.