Last Friday was the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Allied forces, which in recent decades has come to be marked as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Nicole Lampert reflects on how quickly this day, especially in the United Kingdom, has been divested of all meaning:

The Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, for example, compared the vaccine rollout to the Holocaust, while “trans rights” activists frequently and consistently abuse the memory of the genocide—the most recent example being a Scottish councilor a few days ago.

In addition to Bridgen’s comments, the Welsh government minister Julie Morgan intended to hold a Holocaust Memorial Day (which falls on the January 27 each year) vigil for “Gypsy, Roma, and Traveler” victims. Nowhere did Morgan’s plan mention Jews. Why? It should be an “inclusive” event, apparently. Elsewhere, the University and College Union and an official from the National Union of Students have both previously marked HMD by referring to every group targeted by the Nazis except one: Jews.

The new fashion for anti-colonialism adds another layer to these issues because there are some who like to call Jews the new Nazis—a particularly nasty form of anti-Semitism called Holocaust inversion, whose practitioners legitimize it by pointing to the injustices committed by the modern state of Israel. According to this reading, Jews should have learned a lesson from the Holocaust which was, apparently, to be nicer 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.