• President Abbas tentatively ruled out future talks unless Prime Minister Netanyahu were to again freeze West Bank construction. [WP]
• But a compromise may still be in the offing. [WSJ]
• Two IDF soldiers were convicted by an Israeli military court of using a Palestinian boy as a human shield during the 2009 Gaza conflict. [NYT]
• Syrian President Bashar Assad’s visit to Iran yesterday was almost as much indicative of complicating ties as a result of more intensive U.S. engagement as it was of a continued strong bond. [LAT]
• President Obama’s chief-of-staff, Rahm Emanuel, left the White House; he will run to be mayor of his hometown, Chicago. [JPost]
• Legendary Brooklyn-born, New York-based sportswriter Maury Allen died at 78. [NYT]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.