In Italy, archaeologists recently unearthed 38 tombs that seem to have been part of a larger Jewish necropolis. Sarah Bond writes:

The so-called Campus Iudeorum [“field of the Jews”] has long been known from literary sources; however, the recent excavations . . . in Rome’s hip Trastevere district provide material evidence for its existence. The graves date to the city’s late-medieval period, circa 1300-1600.

Most of the bodies were male, inhumed in wooden coffins nailed shut, although two women were also found. These women were wearing golden rings. An inscription in Hebrew was also recovered. . . .

The history of Rome’s Jewish population stretches back to classical antiquity. . . . Rather than above-ground cemeteries, the Jews of Rome often [used] a number of underground catacombs that lie further outside the city. . . . In 1602, the Italian catacomb explorer Antonio Bosio first discovered what he called a “Jewish catacomb” along the via Portuense, though [some] historians . . . have recently called into question the extent to which these burial areas were exclusively reserved for the Jewish population. Jewish tombs (often denoted with Jewish symbols such as a menorah, an ark, or a ram’s horn) appear on a number of burial spaces throughout Rome’s extensive catacomb system. Jews were often buried in close proximity to Christian and pagan burial spots as well.

Early Friday morning, Israel attacked military installations near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and nearby Natanz, the latter being one of the hubs of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem is not taking credit for the attack, and none of the details are too certain, but it seems that the attack involved multiple drones, likely launched from within Iran, as well as one or more missiles fired from Syrian or Iraqi airspace. Strikes on Syrian radar systems shortly beforehand probably helped make the attack possible, and there were reportedly strikes on Iraq as well.

Iran itself is downplaying the attack, but the S-300 air-defense batteries in Isfahan appear to have been destroyed or damaged. This is a sophisticated Russian-made system positioned to protect the Natanz nuclear installation. In other words, Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s best technology can’t protect the country’s skies from the IDF. As Yossi Kuperwasser puts it, the attack, combined with the response to the assault on April 13,

clarified to the Iranians that whereas we [Israelis] are not as vulnerable as they thought, they are more vulnerable than they thought. They have difficulty hitting us, but we have no difficulty hitting them.

Nobody knows exactly how the operation was carried out. . . . It is good that a question mark hovers over . . . what exactly Israel did. Let’s keep them wondering. It is good for deniability and good for keeping the enemy uncertain.

The fact that we chose targets that were in the vicinity of a major nuclear facility but were linked to the Iranian missile and air forces was a good message. It communicated that we can reach other targets as well but, as we don’t want escalation, we chose targets nearby that were involved in the attack against Israel. I think it sends the message that if we want to, we can send a stronger message. Israel is not seeking escalation at the moment.