Knesset Calculus for Poets, by an American Jew

Oct 31, 2026, 6:12 PM

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Knesset plenum hall (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Dear Reader,

Like most of you, I have spent the past few days adding to 61 – unsuccessfully. Despairing of the arithmetic, flummoxed by the strategy, and a bit fatigued by the speculation, I figured I could at least make the stalemate rhyme. Here goes…

Oh my, Gadi Eisenkot’s

Short a bloc of Jewish votes

Now his poignant path to glory’s

Stuck in Knesset purgatory

Ra’am it through to stay afloat?

Bennett’s been at better blocs

Bitter bluster in a box.

Flee to Bibi? Roll the dice?

Break a promise, go make nice?

Coalition’s on the rocks

Lieberman plays cool and coy

Plotting out a power ploy

Every path met with rejection

Till the moment of defection

Drawing a collective oy

Center-righties, lend Yair

Lefty Jews are not to fear

Dump the libs and let’s be honest

Torahcrats and tamed Kahanists

Own the Knesset free and clear

About the Author

Morris Levy is Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on American public opinion about immigration and political tolerance.