• Is Israel the answer to Europe’s desire to wean itself off of Russian energy dependency? [FP Oil and Glory]
• Aluf Benn argues that the national-unity coalition gives Prime Minister Netanyahu more power without diminishing his influence over the government. [TNR]
• Speaking in Israel, the mayor of Caracas said Venezuela would wish to restore friendly ties with Israel if and when Chávez falls. [Ynet]
• The Knesset soundly defeated a bill that would have extended civil marriage to same-sex couples. [JPost/Vos Iz Neias?]
• A New Hampshire state legislator has been welcomed back into the chamber after he apologized, not once, not twice, but thrice for shouting “Sieg Heil!” [JTA]
• Beinart-watchers, -lovers, and –trolls, rev up your engines for the forthcoming New York Review of Books profile. [Mondoweiss]
Neil Young and Crazy Borscht, which matches different restaurants’ borschts to a Neil Young album, is amazing. I think of Veselka’s when I hear this tune:
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.