israel is already fighting iranian—backed groups, in gaza to the south and lebanon to the north. a far less powerful opponent delivered a major blow on the 7th of october. israel's challenge now is how to restore a fear of conflict in its biggest enemy without triggering a war. lucy williamson, bbc news. suzanne maloney, is an iran expert who is the vice president and director of the foreign policy program at the brookings institution. she weighed in on whether israel might risk a direct war with iran. well, i think the israelis recognise that they are overmatched when it comes to their military capabilities versus iran. they would be both on their own and with the support of allies like the united states in a position to absolutely obliterate the iranian military and likely produce an end to the islamic republic, the current ruling regime. i think that is, you know, obviously something that they could do, but it would come with very dire consequences for the rest of the region and for all of their own and, of course, us interests in the region. and i imagine that the biden admin