“Biden’s Win Means a Demotion for Netanyahu and Less Focus on Israel,” declared the headline of a recent report in the New York Times. Therein its author, Jerusalem bureau chief David Halbfinger, opines that “the new administration is expected to exert a calming influence” on the Middle East. Isaac Schorr comments:

On December 20, a Palestinian waited in a wooded area near a Jewish village in northern Israel in the hope of encountering a victim. Soon enough he spotted Esther Horgan walking home from an evening jog and killed her by beating her with a rock. He later told the police that he did the deed to avenge the death of Kamal Abu Wa’er, a terrorist in Israeli custody. Itamar Marcus explains: