In March, the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician Yisrael Aumann, a devout Jew, submitted an affidavit in support of several ḥaredi schools that were seeking relief from a set of regulatory fiats issued by New York State’s department of education. In the affidavit Aumann wrote of his own experience attending such schools in the 1930s and 40s, and argued that the education he received there set him on his own distinguished career path. More recently, Aumann has become increasingly concerned by reports from current and former students of ḥaredi schools who believe themselves to have been gravely disadvantaged by the inadequacy of the secular educations they received:

[T]he Jerusalem Talmud [states] that a father must teach his son a trade and thus provide him with a livelihood. In this passage, Rabbi Yehuda puts it most bluntly: “If a father doesn’t teach his son a trade, it’s as if he taught him highway robbery.”

[T]he picture that was painted for me [in private correspondence]—and later confirmed by other ḥasidic graduates and parents of current students—is of young men who often graduate without even the basic skills to operate professionally. In many cases, this leads to poverty, and also to a sense of insuperable handicap. Having left New York well over 60 years ago, all this was a revelation to me.

I stand behind every word in the affidavit. . . . We must continue vehemently to oppose government . . . intrusion in yeshivas. The government has no right to dictate how we run our schools. But as my affidavit indicates, it does have a right to see to it that all children get a basic secular education that will enable them to be productive members of society.

This can be achieved in several ways. One is to allow the state to test the children in agreed-upon subjects and at agreed-upon levels. . . . But we must do something; we cannot continue to disregard both halakhah and the law of the land.

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.