IN ISRAEL, DE BLASIO PARSES WORDS - Times's Michael Grynbaum:

"His 48-hour trip to Israel, which concluded on Sunday, was conceived as a standard-issue outreach to Jewish groups. It quickly morphed into a tricky political balancing act, as Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, found himself arriving here amid an outbreak of violence, casting his words and actions into an unusually harsh glare...I don't want to pretend to understand the nuances of the situation," said Mr. de Blasio, who visited with Mr. Netanyahu on Sunday. "I think it's important as an outsider to not claim to know more than I do. I think this is a larger human reality, that peace is necessary, attacks on civilians are unacceptable, and no civilian leaders should ever condone attacks on civilians." http://nyti.ms/1PAOvtc

via Azi Paybarah, Jimmy Vielkind and Mike Allen [newyorkplaybook@politico.com]