• In Washington, Defense Minister Barak continued to sound warnings and threats concerning Iran, even as U.S. officials countered with continued talk of sanctions and engagement. [Haaretz]
• U.S. diplomats worry that the direct peace talks will disband over the construction freeze controversy. [Haaretz]
• Most of the 300,000 Jewish settlers would like the freeze to end so that their towns can continue to grow. [WSJ]
• Prime Minister Netanyahu had nice things to say about so many different folk. [Laura Rozen]
• An intelligence expert concludes in a new study that renewed conflict with Lebanon will cover much larger ground, perhaps expand into Syria, and maybe draw Iran explicitly in. [Haaretz]
• Left-wing Israeli group Peace Now took politicians and journalists—including, apparently, one from the Times—on a plane ride over the West Bank to show them settlement growth. [NYT]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.