According to a recent study, 67 percent of those who committed or attempted lone-wolf terrorist attacks in Israel over the last few years had a history of mental illness. One of them was a young Israeli Arab named Ahmed Mohammad Hamid, who had spent time in a mental institution and was recently killed in his attempt to stab a police officer. The researchers, led by the psychologist Ariel Merari, also conducted interviews with people imprisoned by Israel for acts of terror; these bolstered the evidence that suicidal tendencies, mental illness, and personal problems are linked to terrorism. But do the findings suggest that there is no connection between terrorism and anti-Israel ideology? Quite the contrary, writes Nadav Shragai:

Like many other attackers suffering personal distress, some of whom were psychotic or were part of the troubled fringes of Palestinian society, Hamid will soon be getting a status upgrade. He will be moved from . . . the rejected end of the Palestinian [social] spectrum and given a place of honor in the pantheon of Palestinian ethno-religious martyrs. His wild, incitement-filled funeral . . . was just the first sign that the process has begun.

Merari said the sample revealed that family troubles were much more likely to motivate women to commit a terrorist attack than to motivate men. Security officials recount stories of women who took to terrorism because they were being forced to marry against their will, or because their husbands were divorcing them and trying to take their children, and even one case of a female attacker who approached a security guard at a West Bank checkpoint and asked him to shoot her. . . .

“Muslims,” [said Merari], “like Jews or Catholics, are not allowed to commit suicide. A Muslim who commits suicide is destined to eternal hell. Dying while carrying out a terrorist attack, [however], is not only not forbidden, it is recommended by many [religious authorities]. For someone who wants to die, this is a religiously legitimate way.”

[Furthermore, he continued] “there is no doubt synergy with the public and social atmosphere. This is where the hard-core incitement comes in [as well as] the copycat element. . . . When a woman with difficult family problems wants to die, for totally personal reasons, the first thing that occurs to her is, ‘I’ll go kill an Israeli soldier, and then I’ll have social legitimacy. Society will see me positively.’ The daily reporting of these incidents in the Palestinian media and the legitimacy they are given there guides a potential suicide terrorist to choose this manner of death.”

In addition to these extreme cases, writes Shragai, a number of attackers see “martyrdom” as a way to redeem themselves after somehow bringing shame to their families, especially as they know their relatives will benefit financially from their deaths.

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.