In response to Mahmoud Abbas’s intention to sue Britain over the Balfour Declaration, Moshe Arens contemplates what might have become of the Arabs of Palestine if no such document had ever been written:

We can only speculate, [but] one would expect that [the Palestinians’] fate would have been intertwined with the fate of the Arab populations in the Middle East [from] the years after World War I until the present time, and no doubt would have been affected by it. . . .

It hardly seems likely that the Palestinians, had it not been for the establishment of Israel, would have avoided being caught up in the Arab national catastrophe [that currently besets the rest of the Middle East].

Some minority groups living in Israel, [moved by] events in Syria, have begun to show an appreciation for Israel and the tranquil living conditions and economic opportunities it provides. . . . Will the time come when Palestinians, those who are citizens of Israel and even those living in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, recognize that Providence has been kind to them? That the establishment of the state of Israel may have saved them the suffering of their Arab brethren in neighboring Arab countries?

The rhetoric of Palestinian leaders like Abbas in Ramallah and Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza might lead you to believe that nothing can be worse than Israeli “occupation,” but it’s not likely that all Palestinians believe that. Maybe some even consider the establishment of the state of Israel a blessing in disguise.

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.