In an open letter to the president-elect, Michael Totten puts forth some guidelines for dealing with a chaotic world and a Middle East in crisis: “Get real about Russia, finish off Islamic State in Syria, back the Kurds to the hilt, downgrade relations with Turkey, repair our relations with Israel, and crack down hard on Iran.” More specifically, he writes:

Only in an upside-down world does it make any kind of sense to pal around with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and slam Benjamin Netanyahu, as Barack Obama has done. . . .

You can spend four or eight years trying to force the Israelis to give up more than they already have, but it won’t do an iota of good if the Palestinian side remains rejectionist. It won’t earn you many points with the Arab world, either, and the only way you’ll earn points with the likes of Hamas is by ordering airstrikes on Tel Aviv.

There can be no peace between Israelis and Palestinians while Hamas still rules Gaza, and one of the reasons Hamas still rules Gaza is because it’s still receiving money and guns from Iran, just as the Assad regime and Hizballah do.

The Iranian government’s ultimate goal is to become the regional hegemon of the greater Middle East. That emerging reality didn’t disturb President Obama, but it should keep you up at night. . . . You should start twisting the screws again posthaste, and you should make it clear before you’re inaugurated that you’re going to do so. The sooner you adopt these measures, the sooner the Iranians will realize that you are not like your predecessor and shouldn’t be messed with. . . .

All this advice is based on one simple principle—you reward your friends and punish your enemies. It’s the first rule of foreign policy, one that has been with us since antiquity and will survive until the end of time.

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.