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.

Tzedekh, Tzedekh...

The coalition Netanyahu bought
with promises each bloc could live its dreams,
just winks at terrorists, when they get caught,
if they're perceived to play for the same team.
The many Netanyahu has betrayed
have sworn they'll never work with him again.
His underlings routinely go unpaid;
the dogs that run with him are scarcely men.
"I put no faith in Man" the psalmist wrote.
All government--he'd guess--is on the take.
The cynic's guide to how Haredi vote:
they'll back the crook who'll bend laws for their sake.
A politics of Fear, betraying Hope
has hooked a generation on this dope.

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.

realpolitik

Gantz offers Netanyahu a reprieve
and claims himself compassion's soft spotlight.
If Bibi'd demonstrate the sense to leave,
he'd snuff this endless internecine fight.
Zimbabwe pioneered the compromise
to send Mugabe back to his own farm
forgoing restitution for his lies
before he did the country still  more harm.
The classic text from Harvard/MIT
foretells this tale as if it were on rails.
Elites who fence off opportunity
will drag us back around "Why Nations Fail".
Corrupt foundations undermine the State;
what's not legitimate, cannot be great.

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.

false flag

The Persian War that Netanyahu needs
would launch from Washington; he'd leave no trace.
Let Trumpty take the credit for the deed!
One strike could throw the key Knesset race.
His buddy Mr. BoneSaw mustn't know
who struck ARAMCO's oil refinery.
He's pre-convinced the Mullahs are his foe
and wouldn't catch the sort of treachery.
The arms the Houthis think came from Iran
with paperwork attesting it's for them
may not originate in Teheran;
return address is West Jerusalem.
Like Bibi used Dick Cheney once before
salvation for Likud needs us at war.

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.

brinks

The Mullahs sent the Quds brigade to Homs
projecting power closer to Riyadh.
But likewise, within range of hostile bombs;
fourteen more shaheedin drew close to God.
For Bibi, four near-neighbors are enough
those know they'd bear the cost of an attack.
To take a Persian pawn just shows he's tough
and no one wants to be the next Iraq.
'Though Putin's miffed he hadn't seen the plan
Israelis knew no Russian blood'd be spilled.
They tracked his mercenaries to the man.
No one of any notice would be killed.
A proxy war heats up in the Levant,
as Trump throws every switch he's told he can't.

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