Suzanne Maloney

And there is, I think, a consensus around this goal among much of the Israeli national security establishment at this point in time.

It's not purely a Netanyahu-centric effort.

Israelis, by and large, feel as though they can't wait for the threats to come to them.

They have to go out and proactively eliminate those threats.

They learned this horrific lesson on October 7th, and they're not prepared to live with a monster on their doorstep anymore.

in perpetuity.

And so they will continue.

I don't think mowing the lawn is a strategy that is going to keep Israel safe in the future, but I think that they don't see better options at this point in time.

And they're also counting on the fact that the regime will have to contend with a very unhappy, very much impoverished population.

It will have to figure out how to rebuild, potentially without the support of the international financial system.

And Iran will be a weaker, more embittered state in many respects.

And we don't know what will happen six months from here.

We may see the tremors that were created by these attacks produce some fissures within the regime and actually make it less strenuous and less threatening.

We simply don't know.

And I think the Israelis are prepared to do what they have to do.

I don't think it's a strategy for regional peace.

And that, I think, is going to be something that creates some strains with their new relationships here.

As much as the Saudis and the Emiratis detest this regime, they're going to have to live on its periphery and they're going to want to avoid the continuation of this crisis, even at a lower clip.

I think what's happening in Lebanon deserves much, much more attention.

It's really worrisome.