Watch this segment from today's debate. The best bit, where President Obama opens a can of whoop-ass, is at 11m 52s, for about two minutes. If you only watch one clip, make it this one.

An American student went to a private dinner with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in NY this week. His report is fascinating, but the disrespect he pays the president is unnerving. We may not like the guy, but if we're out there demanding respect for Israel despite its shortcomings, we owe the same to every other world leader. It's hard, but we need to rise above.

Reports are being circulated that Ehud Barak is trying to distance himself from Bibi Netanyahu by showing he's the friend-of-the-Americans, and differentiating himself from the bitter-in-the-eyes-of-the-Americans Bibi. Given he's polling at less than one seat, how far can Barak really go?

A leaked Israeli Foreign Ministry document believes that sanctions against Iran are working better than expected, and that they should be given more time and strengthened to "force the Iranians to soften their stance and agree to a compromise on the issue of uranium enrichment."

JPost: "A report in a state-controlled Iranian paper last week asserting that the “Zionist regime” “spreads homosexuality” across the globe in order to pursue its goal of world domination." To all the Zionists out there, did you know about this? It shows how backwards the Iranian regime is. It’s important to note though that this shouldn’t be a reason to isolate them and disengage, as some argue. On the contrary, the West should be there showing Iranians (not the administration) that we support their wish to no longer live under such a tyrannical regime, and that we haven’t given up on them.

Ban Ki-moon: "I strongly reject any threat by any [UN] member state to destroy another, or outrageous comments to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust." Obviously the UN has very little effective power here, but it's still worth remembering the next time someone says "oom shmoom" and dismisses the UN completely out of hand.

Jeffrey Goldberg writes that visiting Israel may be a good tactic on the part of President Obama in trying to avert a unilateral strike by Bibi on Iranian nuclear facilities. It's a good idea, but I think Obama may be trying to save that trip for something bigger. It may be his only option, though, if he wants to stop Bibi from doing what he so badly wants to do. In the meantime, it may be things like sanctions -- which Australia has upped today, by the way -- that need to create as much pressure as possible.

AFP: "Iran on Tuesday said it is dismissing Israeli threats of an imminent attack against it, explaining that even some Israeli officials realized such a 'stupid' act would provoke 'very severe consequences.'" Who knows what you can actually read into this. The regime is so opaque that it's hard to get a good read on anything. In all likelihood it's all propaganda. But that doesn't mean it's not worth taking note of.

46% against a military attack on Iran. And Bibi's favourability rating has faled from 46% to 34% in three months, mostly due to his failing to stand up to the ultra-Orthodox over a new draft policy. As for Iran, the signs are hardly pointing in favour of those 46%. Some are predicting an attack within twelve weeks. Interesting times ahead for Israel.

If you haven't read "Start Up Nation" you should. It's a great book. The danger comes though in Romney's remarks last week - that the reason the Palestinians are less developed is because they have an inferior culture, not because of, you know, the occupation (or other reasons). It's all part of the Zionist Right's ambition to shift the conversation away from social inequality, minority rights in Israel, and the occupation and towards the nice successes of Israel's economy, its democratic triumphs and the hi-tech scene. You need to discuss Israel holistically, taking into account all of these issues, as well as the astounding success of Israel's economy and hi-tech scene. Not doing so makes you forget the bad stuff, which needs to be fixed before Israel can count itself as a truly successful actualisation of the Zionist dream.