In the Indian city of Alibaug, located some 60 miles south of Mumbai, a street-side drink stand that sells sodas produced and bottled by its owner is considered a major local attraction. It is also a persistent remnant of Alibaug’s Jewish history. Namita Devidayal writes:

With its Mangalore-tiled roof and Marathi signs, this could be any other drink stand [in this part of India], if it weren’t for the star of David and pictures of Moses that hang on the wall. This quaint beverage stop, which serves an array of delicious bespoke carbonated drinks like ginger-lemon soda, ice-cream soda, and masala soda, was founded 80 years ago by a Bene Israel Jew, Daniel Samson Digodkar.

Like many of his brethren—at one time there was a population of several thousand Jews in this area, and a synagogue still stands tall in Alibaug—his first name, Daniel, attests to the Jewish heritage, while the surname acknowledges his [native] village, Digodia. This intermingling of names reflects the manner in which the [local] Jews have commingled the regional culture with their very particular rituals, dissolving like sugar into water—in this particular case, carbonated water. . . .

For the longest time, the Bene Israel of Alibaug ran rice and oil-pressing mills. When the Digodkars’ mill shut down, Daniel Samson pursued a personal passion—creating flavorful drinks, first with a marble inside the bottle to contain the bubbles, later with sealed caps. When he died, his sister Mary Moses David took over. Her son Sydney is one of the last in the family—indeed in the community—left here today. . . .

While Alibaug once had the highest concentration of Jews in the area, most of them, including the Digodkars, have now emigrated to Israel.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.