While the Jewish state has a reputation abroad as a conservative country—its voters have kept the Likud party in power since 2009, and there hasn’t been a Labor prime minister since 2001—an actual conservative movement in the country is still little more than nascent. In particular, there is scant ideological support for the free-market policies that have facilitated the country’s economic successes. Roger Hertog explains why this should change, and how it might:

The ideal of economic freedom has had a difficult time establishing itself in Israel. Israel was born as a socialist country, with heavy taxation, heavy regulation, and cartels and controls that continue to this day. The Israeli economy consistently suffers from weak growth in many sectors. . . .

The technology sector accounts for 12 to 15 percent of Israel’s GDP, employing 200,000–300,000 people. Israel has more companies listed on the NASDAQ, most of which are somehow connected to this sector, than any other country in the world except for the United States. But the rest of Israel’s domestic economy, which employs about three million people, has grown more slowly. Why is there such success in one part of the economy and not in the other? . . .

[T]he tech sector is principally export-driven, and its entrepreneurs work without much burdensome government regulation and bureaucracy. But a large portion of Israel’s domestic economy is held back by . . . government oversight, unions, price controls, excessive tax regulation, cartels, and protectionism. As with other countries worldwide, these factors slow growth and impede innovation. . . .

To change this, Israelis must learn from the successes of 20th-century American conservatives, who after World War II built a broad-based movement that included economic freedom as one of its bedrock principles:

If conservatism is to succeed in Israel [as] a political force that can change the economic life of the country, disparate groups. . . will need to see that it is in their interest to come together. Israeli conservatives will need to create a unique synthesis that is right for [their] country—a synthesis embracing all aspects of national life, of which economics is only one. The task at hand is especially difficult because much of the elite intellectual life in Israel is quite unsympathetic to any kind of political conservatism.

On the road to conservative victory, ideas and the promulgation of ideas play a vital part. But to prevail, ideas must manifest themselves in the cultural and political processes that will shape Israel’s destiny. That is the challenge facing conservatism in Israel.

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.