This is seriously worrying - there is no doubt that the Israelis WILL defend themselves. They know (even if we don't) that Fatah want them to beat Hamas into the ground. Fatah will make public murmurings, but they want Israel to defeat Hamas, no question - they are a different brand of Muslim - Fatah is largely secular. Egypt wants Israel to beat Hamas as well - Hamas is fanatical moslem and is related to the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt which the Egyptian government fights - which is why the Egyptians have blockaded Gaza as well. So Israel WILL defend itself - and the Iranians are just plain crazy - certainly stupid enough to provoke a war. The only thing that will give them real pause is the thought that at the moment they don't have nuclear weapons and Israel does ....... unless they have somehow made strides that we are unaware of ... which I doubt. So it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Obama be forced to step in and help Israel - while he is already engaged in Afghanistan? or is this an Iranian distraction for Afghanistan. Seriously interesting.