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Daybreak: Lebanon to Push Palestinian State

Plus, Israel is the hot congressional vacation spot, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
August 16, 2011
Kevin McCarthy, Republican of Texas California, is leading other Republican representatives in Israel.(Avi Ohayon/GPO via Getty Images)
Kevin McCarthy, Republican of Texas California, is leading other Republican representatives in Israel.(Avi Ohayon/GPO via Getty Images)

• Lebanon happens to assume the Security Council’s rotating leadership in September. Guess what one of its first moves will be? [JPost]

• Russia is semi-secretly working to restart nuclear talks with Iran. [AP/WP]

• Roughly one-fifth of the House of Representatives is visiting Israel during summer recess, especially notable given the poor relations between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. [NYT] Texas

• An advocacy group accused Israel of arresting an Al Jazeera journalist and holding him without charges. [AP/WP]

• Glenn Beck, in Israel in advance of next week’s rally, called the #j14 protesters the “hard left” and repeatedly insisted referred to “Judea and Samaria.” [Ynet]

• Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, is sponsoring a bill to halt U.S. funding to three elite IDF units (including the famed Shayetet 13), which he says engage in human rights violations in the Palestinian territories. [Haaretz]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.