• U.S. ambassador Dan Shapiro insisted that the United States would attack Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, and that plans have already been drawn up just in case. [NYT]
• Prime Minister Netanyahu said he had “no reason” to believe Iran would halt its nuclear program diplomatically (which is probably true, but the issue is a weapons program and enrichment levels). [AP/Vos Iz Neias?]
• Iran is nearing a deal that would grant international inspectors greater access to facilities, though some fear it’s just Iranian stalling. [Reuters/Haaretz]
• The Egyptian presidential election is ending up turning on bread-and-butter issues rather than ideological ones (in this case, Islam), just like every other election in history. [LAT]
• Why isn’t Netanyahu on the cover of an Israeli magazine with a six-page profile inside? Because he doesn’t give local media the time of day. [Haaretz]
• David Landau argues that William Kristol revealed in his debate earlier this week that the right—including, likely, Bibi—is far too willing to live with the status quo. [Haaretz]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.