“Israelis playing rope a dope when they have every right to be smash mouth.”
They are in a really tough position. Anything they do to defend themselves will be blown out of proportion; magnified all out of reason. They also have their own vocal and self-destructive liberals. Their stock of these elites (many of whom have double citizenship and homes in other countries) is much higher than ours. Any Israeli government is fragile because of the governing majority rules and the ability to challenge them and throw them out with each new bit of off-balance news. So any government is only hours away from failure. The best way to play the game is probably the way they are doing it. Any other play may cause the government to fall.
Alas, rope a dope might BE the only way to keep a lasting balance, as painful as it is.
It just seems a dirty rotten shame.