LOSE BIBI LOSE

On March 17, Israelis go to the polls. I may have said this before, but it will be very good not only for Israelis if Netanyahu is voted out but also for Americans. The mind meld between Likudniks and the Republican right bodes ill for both nations. 

And no, Bibi, Iran is not conquering country after country as you averred in your bellicose, ignorant speech to Congress. There is this thing called the Sunni-Shiite split in the Muslim world. GW Bush shamefully had never even heard of it when he sent our troops into Iraq to topple Saddam. Are you just pretending to be as ignorant as Bush — ignorance of a certain sort has its appeal to not a few Americans — or are you really that out of touch with realties of the Middle East?

Then there are those on my left flank who are charging you, Bibi, and the Israeli right, with having goaded the United States into the invasion of Iraq. See a recent post by Michel Lerner for a debased example. (I have written for Tikkun but his post — you can find it on-line — makes me almost embarrassed to have done so.)

But no, back then, Bibi, back in 2003, when we sent our troops to topple Saddam, you weren't as important as our homegrown idiots. You were — to borrow a Britishism — nary a patch on GW, Cheney, Condi, Rumsfeld and Colin. Sure, Wolkfowitz chipped in, but so what. He was small latkes.

So, back to the Israeli election on March 17, it will be good for us all if you lose. Please do.

A personal note: I remember you in hysterics when Rabin and Arafat shook hands. For many of us, that was a hopeful moment. For you the very idea of a Palestinian state was to be opposed to your last breath.

If your last political breath occurs this Tuesday I'm not the only one who would breath a sigh of relief.