Israel's Obama rises?

Here are the headlines and headliners that will be making news today.

Israelis returned to power a right-leaning coalition, but elevated significantly the stature of a charismatic newcomer to politics, Yair Lapid, who used an American style "optimism" tour to persuade voters that the hellish recent past in Israel is redeemable. The name of his party is Yesh Atid, which means "There Is A Future." He ran on social issues and economic justice. Lapid served in the military like other Israeli politicians but significantly is not a member of the elite Sayaret Matkal, the country's Delta Force/SEAL Team Six equivalent, which has produced many of its prime ministers and political figures and two of the three major candidates in this election. He is instead a television anchor whose experience of the world is quite different. The White House is quite happy with the return of a vibrant center-left party to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew he would be pressured by the right-wing coalition that includes his former chief of staff; he did not expect to be boxed in from the other direction too. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before Congress about the Benghazi tragedy. Most of the questioning will revolve around the State Department's risk assessment and intelligence analysis policies and probably not around whether the Obama administration tried to cover up the involvement of militants in the attack. ... As Clinton testifies, Joe Biden is enjoying a wave of favorable coverage about his potential run to succeed his boss in 2016. 

In Los Angeles, the police said they will have a look at newly released files from the Catholic Church about its efforts to deal with priests who molested young boys. For years, Cardinal Roger Mahoney has denied he played any role in covering up the crimes. The files cover the cases of 14 priests and go back 30 years. A speed-read by Los Angeles media finds that Mahoney and his lieutenants were, at the very least, well-aware of the allegations. 

Welcome to superstardom, Sloane Stephens.