There’s a cruel irony in watching Israel, a state born from the ashes of genocide, now employ tactics eerily similar to those used by the terrorists it fights. This week, Israel allegedly rigged pagers and cell phones to explode, killing Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon.

The justifications ring familiar: “We are under constant threat.”

But when does survival become sadism? When does defense morph into revenge?

Each explosion, each “precision” strike that leaves civilians as “collateral damage,” doesn’t just take lives—it eats away at Israel’s soul.

The booby-trapped pagers and phones aren’t just a tactical evolution; they’re a moral devolution. When a nation founded as a haven for the persecuted becomes indistinguishable from the persecutors, something fundamental has been lost. These aren’t the actions of a state defending itself; they’re the desperate flailings of a country losing its identity.

What separates Israel from those it condemns? The line grows thinner with each explosion, each “targeted” killing that leaves a wake of civilian casualties. Israel isn’t just fighting terror; it’s becoming the very thing it swore to destroy. In its quest for security, it risks securing only its own moral downfall.