It's probably overdone and largely useless but not quite as ridiculous as it seems. Sure, high res maps are probably theoretically available from some source and country with an army and an intelligence apparatus will have access to these. Recently, Israel attracts fire from groups ranging from a couple guys and a $200 mortar tube to sub national militias with limited support from a handful of real countries. I imagine these groups, much like startups, appreciate the cheap & easy 80/20 solutions that something like google earth offers.
I remember years ago hearing stories about rocket squads using Israeli radio reports of rockets striking (for example) 1km west of Kibbutz Dan to adjust their aim.
Disclaimer first: As I said above, I'm new here. I certainly don't claim to be an expert on anything Israel.
That said: I don't quite get your point. If you want to shoot at point X, doesn't a decent map (no imagery needed) give you what you need? Distance, probably elevation? And if you're in range for these militia stuff, can't you check out the place before anyway?
It's not like Google Maps/Earth is live, showing the result of your action (as the radio would in your example).
Again, to avoid stirring up trouble: I certainly have no clue about living in a country where you have real security threats. But I cannot grasp (potentially because of the reason listed before) how this limited availability of 'old' imagery helps protecting against attacks.
Like I said, I would not be surprised if the censorship is overkill and/or almost entirely useless.
That said, (A) satellite imagery, I assume, contains information that's hard to get from a map. The buildings, trees, layouts, and flow of the place. You can easily see on satellite where people are likely to be. (B) Maps are also censored. What's this thing?: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...
Also, just to give a picture of the scale we are talking about, that thing is close enough to Gaza to aim with a naked eye. We're not talking about ICBMs
I remember years ago hearing stories about rocket squads using Israeli radio reports of rockets striking (for example) 1km west of Kibbutz Dan to adjust their aim.