• President Ahmadinejad faces the emerging challenge of dealing with an economy further soured by successful sanctions. [WP]
• Prime Minister Netanyahu has another couple days to consider the U.S. plea to extend the construction freeze, as the Arab League meets Friday to debate President Abbas’s decision to withdraw from talks without an extension. [NYT]
• Speaking stateside, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni slammed Netanyahu for waiting two years to engage the Palestinians. [Haaretz]
• A YouTube video of an Israeli soldier apparently dancing next to a blindfolded female Muslim prisoner has prompted a criminal inquiry. [NYT]
• What President Obama’s attempted Mideast dealmaking could net him. [NYT]
• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Florida) has become one of the most outspoken critics, and therefore biggest targets, of the right. [NYT]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.