• Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office vowed that the killers of four Israeli settlers “will pay,” though this week’s direct talks will go on as planned. [Ynet]
• Mayor Bloomberg opposed a state investigation into Park51’s funding: “I think it’s a terrible precedent. You don’t want them investigating donations to religious organizations.” [City Room]
• There’s a lot of tension between the Israeli government and private companies/investors over the new natural gas fields. [WSJ]
• The Emergency Committee for Israel-J Street spat continues. Only in August, folks. [Ben Smith/Ben Smith]
• Despite Jewish QB Sage Rosenfels’s awesome preseason play, Coach Brad Childress insists that mediocre Tarvaris Jackson will be the Minnesota Vikings’s second-string snap-taker. (#4 is starting.) [AP/NYT]
• Popular indie band LCD Soundsystem is getting Facebook wall-spammed because of its plans to play a Tel Aviv gig. [Negev Rock City]
Here’s my favorite LCD Soundsystem song, “North American Scum.”
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.