Abstract
Israel’s commitment to a policy of collective punishment, disproportionate response, outright assassination and ethnic cleansing are the culmination of a long process. It has its origins in the expropriations organized by colonial powers, as does the state of Israel itself, but the proximate causes are the recent turn in politics to Biblical Jewish fundamentalism and an irrational enthusiasm for new military technologies, especially AI. These have led to important changes in official Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) policies, including a fundamental degradation of their ethical code.