• Between mine-clearing drones and a new floating base, the United States is significantly stepping up its military footprint in the Persian Gulf with a clear eye toward Iran. [LAT/NYT]
• There was a fire in a Jerusalem apartment housing Eritreans, which injured two. Signs point to arson. [Ynet]
• The new book by Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv—yes, those guys from yesterday!—is causing a ton of buzz, primarily for its reporting that actual Israeli agents are responsible for the string of Iranian scientist assassinations. [NYT]
• Recently acquitted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied rumors that he would re-join politics, and 70 percent of the country doesn’t want him to. So he should be announcing his return in another few months or so. [JPost]
• Israel is deploying Iron Dome, its missile defense system currently used to shoot down rockets from Gaza, along the Sinai border. [Reuters/Haaretz]
• Some donor must’ve been unhappy? The National Jewish Democratic Council backs down from the anti-Sheldon Adelson campaign. [JTA]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.