Sundown: Mossad Posed as CIA

Tablet Magazine will be dark Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day (and in defiance of Ron Paul’s wishes). Enjoy the best sports weekend of the year.

• In a false flag operation that made President George W. Bush livid, Mossad agents reportedly posed as U.S. intelligence agents to recruit members of a Pakistani terrorist group into conducting operations, including assassination, in Iran. Huge scoop. [FP]

• Frequent Tablet Magazine contributor James Kirchick links the contemporary use (typically on the left) of terms like “Israel-firster” and “dual loyalism” to the anti-Semitic far-right. [Haaretz]

• Entering roughly the same debate, Eric Alterman defends his own record and accuses critics of think tanks like the Center for American Progress and Media Matters of practicing “Jewish McCarthyism.” [Forward]

• Iran continued to allege that Israel and the United States were responsible for yesterday’s and other assassinations of nuclear scientists (which the U.S. strongly denies) and hinted at reprisals. [NYT]

• Yet weirdly the head of Iran’s nuclear agency showed up at the scientist’s funeral, almost as though the scientist had not been merely a scientist. [Golnaz Esfandiari Twitter]

• Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged that sanctions are indeed harming Iran’s economy and possibly working toward their goal of making the country compliant with international nuclear standards. [Haaretz]

• The head of the Kremlin’s Security Council accused Israel of pushing the U.S. toward war with Iran. [Haaretz]

• The Palestinian Authority set a Jan. 26 deadline for concrete progress or else it will pull out of the series of talks in Amman. It’s … unclear what the stick is here. Or the carrot, for that matter. [JPost]

• PolitiFact says that the Democratic accusation that the leading Republican candidates (excepting Paul) would “zero-out” aid to Israel is ridiculous. [JTA Capital J]

• Which religion, out of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, offers the best average pay for clergy in America? Hint: Don’t over-think this one. [Slate]

• Tila Tequila is going to convert to Judaism. I am ashamed to admit that I have heard of Tila Tequila but proud to boast that I have no idea who she is. [TMZ]

• The Frugal Traveler (aka Matt Gross) visits Jerusalem! Now if only Bourdain would go. [NYT]

• According to American Airlines, Tel Aviv is the Middle East’s best gay city (well, duh). That’s just to distract you from the occupation, though. [ThinkProgress]

• Saad Hariri’s tweet “@” an Israeli Defense spokesperson could make things … awkward for the former Lebanese prime minister. [Abir G Twitter]

I imagine this video, starring Mayor Michael Bloomberg and with a cameo by former Mayor Ed Koch and set to the music of Lady Gaga, lets you feel what it’s like to take a lot of acid.