What beats both is not going after civilians at all, but after the leadership, as I said. Israel has it exactly backwards right now.
Gee, that's a great idea, why didn't anyone think of it before? Obviously they've been doing that. What do you think of their targeted killings? It hasn't been enough. If this reduces the incentive for those idiots to blow themselves and others up, I think Israel should do it immediately.
You're right. It hasn't been enough. They need to go higher. Right now they've just been going after scattered mid-level operatives, with predictable (non-)results. Maybe they feel that it's better "strategy" to keep the big fish around as negotiating tools. Maybe they figure that the enemy they know is better than the enemy they don't know. Maybe they're afraid of what Washington might say. To make a long story short, they lack the political will to do what's necessary to protect their people, and like frustrated adolescents they're looking to turn around instead and start beating on those that they can get away with beating on, even if it does comparatively little to stop terrorism.