On Thursday Valerie Plame, a former CIA officer, sent a tweet reading “America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars,” followed by a link to an article with that title by one Philip Giraldi, who regularly writes on the theme of malign Jewish influence on U.S. foreign policy, usually for far-right websites. The article asserts that Jews should recuse themselves from positions in government in which they might influence policy, and Jewish pundits should be identified by their religion when appearing on television. After receiving much criticism, she apologized. Alan Dershowitz writes:

The article [in question] contains the usual anti-Semitic tropes: Jews are guilty of dual loyalty; they control politicians, the media and entertainment; they want the U.S. to fight wars for the country to which they have real allegiance—Israel; they are dangerous to America. . . . This was not the first time Plame retweeted Giraldi’s garbage. [In her initial response to criticism of the article, before backing down and apologizing], she described it as: “Yes, very provocative, but thoughtful. Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish. Ugh.”

Nor is this the only time that Plame has tweeted other nonsense from the bigoted platform this piece came from. I actually read the Philip Giraldi article—before I was aware of the Plame tweet—on a neo-Nazi website, where Giraldi’s articles are frequently featured. For Plame to claim that she was unaware of the anti-Semitic content of Giraldi’s article is to ignore reality. Plame had to be aware, since she was aware of Giraldi’s bigotry. Her apologies ring hollow. . . .

The Plame incident reflects a broader problem. . . . There is a growing tolerance for anti-Semitism. Even when some people themselves do not harbor these feelings, they are willing to support those who do, as long as the anti-Semites are on their side of the political spectrum. . . .

The problem exists both on the hard right and the hard left. Both extremes see the world in racial, ethnic, and religious terms. Both engage in identity politics: the hard left gives more weight to the views of certain minorities; while the hard right gives less weight to the views of these same minorities. . . .

What the hard right and hard left share . . . is bigotry toward Jews: the neo-Nazi right hates the Jewish people, and the hard left hates the nation-state of the Jewish people and those Jews who support it. Both views are bigoted and must not become acceptable among centrist liberals and conservatives.

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.