• Direct talks! Washington, D.C.! Early September! Victory for President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton! [NYT]
• The United States has convinced Israel that it will take Iran longer—a year, minimum—before its nuclear weapons are operational, somewhat forestalling the possibility of Israeli military action in the near- to mid-future. [NYT]
• President Ahmadinejad reportedly said he was ready to restart fuel swap talks with the five permanent Security Council members (as opposed to Turkey and Brazil, with which he already struck a deal). [Haaretz]
• A new U.N. report says restricted land in Gaza has caused additional misery to a sizeable percentage of its residents. [NYT]
• Here’s the thing, though: The Islamic center almost certainly won’t actually be built. [Politico]
• Amar’e is apparently keeping kosher. [Page Six]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.