In 2017, the “Walled-Off Hotel” opened in Bethlehem, just a few feet from the security fence that runs through the West Bank. Its owner, the anonymous British “street artist” known as Banksy, has decorated it with his own artwork, making the entire hotel an exercise in fake-war-crimes kitsch. David Collier reports on his visit to the hotel:

On the one side, [the hotel] can be viewed as an obscene gimmick. A privileged activist gaining publicity through a stunt that objectifies people immersed in a real-world tragedy. On the other are the Jews, who are thoroughly demonized by the false narrative presented inside. Jews become alien god-killers, too greedy and racist to open their arms to a peaceful downtrodden people. In the middle are the useful idiots: ignorant tourists who come to the hotel, see the exhibits, and then leave slightly more radicalized than they were before they came. . . .

Inside the [hotel’s] museum are several videos. The most important one [purports to] place the conflict into context. . . . It is difficult to overstate the historical distortion in the video. . . . It completely denies Jewish history in the land and presents Jews as alien invaders. . . .

Throughout the museum, there is use of Holocaust imagery, part of an ongoing strategy of equating the results of the 1947-48 conflict with the Holocaust. . . . [One piece] suggests Israelis kill for money, Arabs die just so Israelis can test weapons, and the conflict only [exists] so that Jewish business can thrive. . . . Everywhere you look is the image of a brutal Holocaust committed by money-grabbing Jews against a defenseless and helpless population. . . . [This is not to mention the] classic anti-Semitic imagery [of] Jews as god-killers, [found in] an image of a Christlike figure with a red-dot sight on his forehead. . . .

[T]he truth is that . . . far more hate went into building the exhibits within the hotel than went into building the defensive wall it was designed to protest. One was designed to save lives, the other only sets out to demonize a people.

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.