Political Scene

WHITE HOUSE

Obama aide in Israel to meet with leaders

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is meeting with top Israeli leaders this week.

The White House says Mr. Emanuel will meet Wednesday in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for informal talks on a range of issues concerning the two countries. Mr. Emanuel and his family are scheduled to visit Thursday with President Shimon Peres.

Mr. Emanuel is in Israel to celebrate son Zach’s bar mitzvah.

CONGRESS

Lawmakers await resolution before adding sanctions

Congressional leaders putting together a new round of U.S. sanctions against Iran say they will defer final action to give the United Nations and the European Union a chance to take multinational action against Iran.

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman say they will await the outcome of a draft U.N. Security Council resolution and follow-up EU action before advancing their bill punishing Iran over its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

They say that tough multilateral sanctions are the most effective means to persuade Iran to cease its nuclear program.

Mr. Dodd and Mr. Berman are working out differences in House- and Senate-passed bills that would expand U.S. sanctions.

FED

Bullard: Europe’s woes unlikely to spur recession

The European debt crisis isn’t likely to throw the global economy back into a recession, a Federal Reserve official said Tuesday.

The turmoil “will probably fall short of becoming a worldwide recessionary shock,” said James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in a speech delivered in London.

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