the non-solution

Partition, as benGurion signed on
'though not his dream, is nonetheless the deal.
The OneState ship has sailed; that option's gone;
it's over-due successors must get real.
Mizrahi Jews resent what they've been told
is condescension from Ashkenazim.
The Founders' leftist vision leaves them cold;
they fail to see themselves in Herzl's dream.
Their grievance keeps his premiership afloat;
their discipline gives meager numbers heft.
A hundred parties jostling for the vote
attenuate the power of the Left.
The anthem sings about one Jewish soul,
but like most battles, this one's for control.

what isn't universal isn't a right

Chuck Schumer said what Biden didn't dare;
the Netanyahu program will not do.
His OneState non-solution can't be fair
if human rights are only for the Jew.
benGurion kept faith when he endorsed
the plan to make us masters of our fate,
explicitly accepting, in due course,
the corresponding Arab ethno-state.
That TwoState plan lies dusty, on the shelf
and Bibi offers just more status quo.
Too rapt in machinations for himself
Chuck Schumer speaks for us; he's got to go.
The self-determination Kant prescribed
has got to be for more than just our tribe.

It was never about the nation's interests

Israelis on the Left failed to unite
against the perils Netanyahu brings.
A coalition so far on the Right
"prime minister" increasingly means "king".
No constitution circumscribes the role;
they've failed at writing one since '48.
If once Mishpat Elyon would cede control,
one man could compromise a people's fate.
Corruption charges never went away;
a blameless man would hasten to get cleared.
But Bibi's strategy was all delay,
and cultivating voters' baseless fears.
Two thousand years, we prayed we'd get self-rule.
And now we've blown it on this grifting tool.

games within games

When Benny Gantz demurred to even try

to form a coalition, having won

exasperated voters wonder why

and if his whole campaign were just for fun.

Impunity--like Netanyahu's sought--

would be a terrible as pundits said.

Who can't be prosecuted, can be bought;

he'd cling to office 'til the day he's dead.

The optimist can dream that it’s a snare
in hopes of taping bribes by the Likud
to conjure coalitions out of air
(in politics, entrapment’s not deemed rude)

A better system, Churchill couldn't name,

but nobody should doubt this one's insane.

PLAYING GAMES

When Benny Gantz demurred to even try
to form a coalition, having won
exasperated voters wonder why
and if his whole campaign were just for fun.
Impunity--like Netanyahu's sought--
would be a terrible as pundits said.
Who can't be prosecuted, can be bought;
he'd cling to office 'til the day he's dead.
The smallest faction swings to those who'll pay
but haggling's now compressed; the timeline's short.
Corruption prosecution's underway;
October's coming, and his day in court.
A better system, Churchill couldn't name,
but nobody should doubt this one's insane.

Or chadash

Israeli justice gets a second chance
as Netanyahu--long last!--takes a loss.
The Arabs cast their lot with Benny Gantz;
a nation dares place hope in this new boss.
The prosecutors' patience has run short
as multiple corruption charges pend.
Premier no more, he'll get his day in court
to spin a tale no lawyer could defend.
Twelve years, he's stalled and waffled on TwoState
"facts on the ground" eroding what's been pledged.
The Peace Camp wonders if it's not too late
to celebrate their sister-state half-fledged.
The statehood trek deferred once more begins;
Israelis wincingly learn they've got twins.

no deal

The coalition Netanyahu sought
would have to grant him vast impunity.
For lack of Liberman--who won't be bought--
the courts now try him for his felony.
A voter segment that won't pull its weight
can't hold a nation hostage--all the time.
Enjoying benefits within a State
without contributing should be a crime.
For want of constitution set in ink,
the High Court can't enforce a single thing.
A jurisprudence tested to the brink
came close to elevating Bibi king.
But now the voters get a second chance,
to vote for Rule of Law, and Benny Gantz.

Facts on the Ground

Rejectionism's served the Arabs ill,
for fifty years, the West Bank's occupied.
Israelis claim each spring, and every hill
the Greenline's half-erased and nullified.
The monument to Yasir Arafat
must show he served his ego more than God,
the Settlers won't hand over what they've got
not even to the saint, Salam Fayyad.
A People's right, as author of its fate
is in the UN charter, plain as day
but Bibi's still intent to dominate,
no road, no olive grove's beyond his sway.
Where one controls what two were meant to share,
we've gone too far to reach a peace that's fair.

side by side

two nations struggling in one narrow womb
begin the narrative of Toledot
stark competition for the finite room
who gets the pasturage, who gets the vote
the same law binds your stranger and your king
if you're to build a kosher Jewish State
it's all about the Justice, not the bling
and no one buys your PR that "it's great!"
a single state from Jordan to the sea
would have to disenfranchise half the folk
a shabby parody of Herzl's dream
replays the prophecy as bitter joke
the TwoState pact ben-Gurion endorsed
to get to Peace, will have to be enforced

hope

haTikvah sang Israelis' theme of hope
emerging from a genocidal war
but now they seem enamored of the dope
who says things can't be like they were before
his brother--whom they loved--ain't coming back
they trusted that he truly walked the walk
but Bibi wants Obama to attack   
glib talker who just mimes the role of 'hawk'
 a Jewish State must live Mishpat Echat
and can't claim veto on what neighbors do
this Occupation can't be--and is not--
compatible with being a good Jew
while negative campaigning's all the rage
both Trump and Bibi sing from the same page    

a prophet without honor

when Liebowitz held Israel to account
a prophet without honor in his land
he'd rather Jordan keep the Temple Mount
we didn't need such tzurres on our hands
the Occupation takes a daily toll
on kids fresh-graduated from High School
corrosive to the nation's will and soul
perpetuating a new empire's will
no prospect of an end as years grind past
indignities just breed more violence
the territories he's have swapped back fast
now seem a prison hemmed in by the fence
ben Gurion signed the deal to form Two States
where Bibi drags his feet 'til it's too late

two trumpets

haTikvah sang Israelis' theme of hope
emerging from a genocidal war
but now they seem enamored of the dope
who says things can't be like they were before
as if to work for peace were a vain dream
they re-elect the huckster without peer
a virtuoso on one limbic theme
he sells instead a politics of fear
his brother--whom they loved--ain't coming back
they trusted that he truly walked the walk
but Bibi wants Obama to attack      
glib talker who just mimes the role of 'hawk'
 a Jewish State must live Mishpat Echat
and can't claim veto on what neighbors do
this Occupation can't be--and is not--
compatible with being a good Jew
while negative campaigning's all the rage
both Trump and Bibi sing from the same page    

pulling teeth

ben Gurion embraced the UN plan
a blueprint for partition and TwoState
explicit when this enterprise began
'though Bibi keeps on putting off the date
no neighbor held a veto at that start
what Truman signed had all he force of Law
but Bibi now puts horse behind the cart
and no one balks him on his logic's flaw
"Peace-First" just mires us in the status quo
while Settlers build obstructions they call "facts"
the future's bleak if that's the way we go
no non-State actor can enforce peace-pacts
'though Yoni's the war-hero the world loved
his brother talks in circles 'til he's shoved         

democide

Yigal Amir shot Rabin in the back
embarrassingly easy deed to do
Israelis weren't braced for this attack
his guards watched for an Arab, not a Jew
Palmach's own son, respected more than loved
he lacked a politician's verbal grease
the warrior become reluctant dove
to leave his grandchildren a world at peace
mis-handled backlash squandered sympathy
the program left to Peres stalled and sunk
Likud won votes for more security
and Labour lost what should have been slamdunk
two bullets slammed into the Jewish State
incited by yeshivot teaching hate

united front

Ahmadinejad bolstered the Likud
and got--in trade--help on the Persian Street
opposed in policies, alike in mood
so East, so West that at the poles they meet
George Orwell taught us that external threats
can mobilize a voter-base at home
no matter how intemperate it gets
it guarantees more cash for IronDome
but since Ahmadinejad's off the scene
and since the Persian rhetoric's becalmed
it's Bibi who's outrageous in his spleen
obsessive in the matter of the bomb
when not at war, Israelis fight for sport
and only unify at last resort