In 2015, the Israeli prime minister addressed a joint session of the House and Senate. The editors of the New York Sun recommend that the new Congress ask him to return:

Mr. Netanyahu is, after all, one of only two foreign leaders to have addressed a joint meeting three times. Winston Churchill used his third speech to dilate on, among other things, how he himself had become a Zionist early in the 20th century and to kvell over Israel’s progress. That speech was in 1952, when Harry Truman was still in office. Were Mr. Netanyahu to be invited back, he’d be the only four-timer.

Mr. Netanyahu could also talk about Israel’s democracy, given the way the latest election is being portrayed in the pro-Democratic press. . . . So Netanyahu could pick up from where he ended his speech last time he addressed Congress. That was where he gestured to the bas-relief of Moses, whose exodus from Egypt helped inspire America’s own early settlers and whose image now overlooks our legislature and whose laws have served as a kind of constitution of the Jewish people. We don’t want to press that point to any inappropriate degree, but neither would we ignore it.

We are struck that in recent years not a single world leader—including Presidents Biden and Macron, say, or Prime Minister Johnson or Chancellor Merkel—has given a major strategic speech or call to global action. Who better to do that than Mr. Netanyahu, a combat veteran, a son of one of the West’s greatest historians and, by time in grade, a senior statesman? What an opportunity for the 118th Congress to get off on a historic footing.

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.