Since ancient times, Jews have lived in what is now Bulgaria, and historical records suggest there was a thriving community of Byzantine Jews there in the Middle Ages. Ashkenazi Jews didn’t settle in the country until the 13th century; at the end the 15th, the Sephardim who eventually came to predominate began to arrive. Yet no archaeological remains of medieval Bulgarian Jewy have been found—that is, until Mirko Robov began excavating what he had assumed to be a church. Amanda Borschel-Dan writes:

The [supposed] Jewish house of worship was discovered on the outskirts of a medieval fortress complex located on Trapezitsa Hill [in the medieval capital of Tarnovgrad]. It is a large building that was built during the 1240s and survived until the fall of Tarnovgrad during the Ottoman conquest in 1393, when the town was completely razed. . . .

Bulgaria boasts a 2,000-year-old Jewish community, members of which have been documented to have lived in a Jewish quarter on the Trapezitsa Hill during the Middle Ages. If confirmed as a synagogue after further research, this would be the only one from Bulgaria during this era, and one of only a handful that have been discovered throughout the continent.

“This new-found building is not a church, because it’s characterized by different planning and construction,” said Robov. “It’s coated from the inside, but there are no wall paintings. This is why I connect the building with the religious practices of a different ethnic group.” Robov explained that all of the place names that are connected with the city’s medieval Jewish population are found in areas on or around Trapezitsa Hill. These include a Jewish quarter, a Jewish graveyard at the northwestern foot of the hill, and an area on the southwestern foot called Chifutluk.

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.