With 18 days to go, I say that Israelis deserve better than the empty invective and detached sloganeering served-up by its politicians in this election campaign.

Israeli democracy is not “shattering” nor are we facing the “darkest days Israel has known.” These are venal, absurd claims – spewed from the mouths of desperate politicos on the extremist fringe.

For Tisha Be’Av: Isn’t it time to re-energize our national spirit with a measure of historical perspective, and our societal morals with some fine-tuned lessons from Jewish tradition?

Danger ahead: There are signs that President Trump is getting ready to ease the pressures on Iran and bargain for a new nuclear deal: A US-Iran “deal of the century.” This could be knottier and more nebulous than valuable. My fear is twofold: that Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign will be cut short before Iran’s leaders truly have no choice but to capitulate to Western demands…

My summertime review of reds from several boutique Israeli wineries: Dadah, Drimia, Five Stones, Flam, Gros, Lueria, Matar, Maresha, Midbar, Oryah, Ramot Naftaly, Tura and Vitkin.

Dr. Henry Kissinger remains one of the greatest practitioners of modern foreign policy and strategic affairs; a towering intellectual thinker; an architect of global stability and Mideast peacemaking; and yes – he was friend of Israel when in office and he is today too. (He did NOT purposefully delay US resupply of Israel with arms during the Yom Kippur war).

His violent discourse disqualifies him from leading this country again, not to mention his pillaging of Jerusalem.

At the core of the Trump peace initiatives is creative chaos; replacing hoary assumptions with new bridges and highways – literally and figuratively

Keep the settlement issue in proportion. Settlements are not the bane of local or world peace nor necessarily an obstacle to peace. They neither explain Palestinian unwillingness to make peace with Israel nor are they the cause of traffic jams in Tel Aviv.

Even an interim Israeli government can clean-up the city, stop dithering on construction, rebuff deleterious foreign pressures, and invest in all sectors of Israel’s national capital. It can reestablish forward Zionist momentum – for the greater good of both Arab and Jewish residents, and to secure the national goal of a united, livable and luminous Jerusalem.

Avigdor Liberman cynical use of the haredi draft issue to torment Netanyahu has nauseatingly forced Israel into another utterly unnecessary election campaign; a campaign that means months more of deadlock in government policymaking and tons of hateful election rhetoric and divisiveness.

A new national security plan for the Israeli government by fellows of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) says: Avoid risky diplomatic escapades and prepare for war.

The legacies of Rabbis Yeshayahu Hadari and Aharon Lichtenstein serve as a cultural counterpoint to the doltish Eurovision festivities.

Reasonable disagreements are degenerating into demonization and double standards applied to the prime minister.

He has cornered himself into a situation where he has zero credibility and zero leverage on Israel, the US, the international community, and even the Sunni Arab world. He and the so-called Palestinian “Authority” in the West Bank are obstructionist and kleptocratic in every way.