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Daybreak: Bibi’s Plans

Plus new inspections and new sanctions, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
February 02, 2012
Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier this week.(Uriel Sinai - Pool/Getty Images)
Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier this week.(Uriel Sinai - Pool/Getty Images)

• The talk of Israel is whether Prime Minister Netanyahu, who yesterday solidified his leadership when he won the Likud primary with 75 percent of the vote, will call elections soon—in part in order to have a mandate and need to worry less about his popularity before a potential second Obama term. [WP]

• International nuclear inspectors, just returned, will visit Iran again in three weeks. If nothing else, it’s a sign that both sides want to be seen as cooperating. [NYT]

• With the last round not yet implemented, the Senate is already working on new financial sanctions against Iran that would target individual leaders, including President Ahmadinejad. [FP The Cable]

• Eight rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel; they hurt no one. They may have been timed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to the region, including Gaza. [Israel HaYom]

• At the Herzliya Conference, Israeli central banker Stanley Fischer did not go easy on Israel. Among other things, he said the Haredim, many of whom deliberately subsist on generous government subsidies, have to start working. [Haaretz]

• “In the world of mohels … Mr. Sherman has become a kind of bold-faced name.” [NYT City Room]

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