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Daybreak: U.S. Continues to Reassure Israel

Plus another Syrian massacre, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
June 07, 2012
Matisyahu (really) in Jerusalem.(Gali Tibbon/AFP/GettyImages)
Matisyahu (really) in Jerusalem.(Gali Tibbon/AFP/GettyImages)

• A steady stream of U.S. officials current and former has been visiting Israel and trying to assure everyone in sight that the United States will up sanctions on Iran if there is further non-cooperation on negotiations, and that if it gets right down to it the U.S. will take military action to prevent an Iranian bomb. The flip-side of the message, of course, is that Israel shouldn’t attack just yet. [NYT]

• Speaking of, Iran, miffed that it’s not getting “preliminary talks,” threatened to postpone or cancel the P5+1 negotiations in Moscow later this month. [NYT]

• Word is that shabiha—those pro-government Alawite militias—killed “dozens” of civilians in a town near Hama, in central Syria, in an echo of last month’s Houla Massacre. [WP]

• A new Israeli court decision permits the deportation of about 1500 illegal immigrants from the relatively new country of South Sudan. [JTA]

• Matisyahu explains his new haircut, lifestyle. [Matisyahu]

• Can’t decide which is weirder: Voca People, the Israeli alien singing group, or the Israeli foreign ministry’s feeling of being threatened by it. [Ynet]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.