On Thursday, the newly appointed American ambassador to Turtle Bay gave a press conference following a routine Security Council meeting regarding the Middle East. The editors of the New York Sun were impressed:

The ex-governor of South Carolina was ridiculed by the left when the president first sent her nomination up to Capitol Hill, owing to her alleged lack of foreign-policy chops. She certainly rang the wake-up gong for that crowd this morning. . . . Tough as nails but with a smile and a layer of Southern charm.

The ambassador had just come from the regular monthly Security Council meeting on Middle East issues. She said it was her first such meeting, and “it was a bit strange.” The Security Council, she said, is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But the meeting, she said, was not about Hizballah’s illegal buildup of rockets in Lebanon; it was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists; it was not about how we defeat Islamic State; it was not about how we hold Bashar al-Assad accountable for the slaughter of thousands of civilians. “No,” she said, “instead the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East.” . . .

The ambassador made clear that the Trump administration will not support the kind of resolution from which the Obama administration’s ambassador—Samantha Power—shamefully abstained. . . . [Haley] warned that it is “the UN’s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change,” and said America will not hesitate to speak out in defense of its friend in 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.