A meaningful discussion of modern Hebrew poetry ought to begin with the recognition that there has been a radical break in the Israeli cultural milieu. Americans exposed to the consciousness-shattering onslaughts of the mass media, the New Left, and the counter-culture may find the shift in the Israeli cultural scene timid, but from a more normative point of view the revolution in Israeli culture has been considerable. The full impact of the revolution has not been perceived outside of (or even fully felt in Israel, for that matter) because the tradition oriented establishment has retained the ability to prop up the old image by means of its control of the universities, the newspapers, and the state operated radio, all of which are more conservative than their counterparts in the United States. The establishment, it may be added, also controls the dis tribution of funds to be used for the support and advancement of culture. Nevertheless, one of the symptoms of the cultural revolution is keenly felt by the artistic community in Israel. The creative community in has begun to suffer, indeed, has been suffering for some time, now, from that common west ern ailment: the alienation of the poet. Though divided on most other issues, both national and international, the Israeli literati seem to agree at least on one thing: that the last two decades have been characterized by a growing rift be tween the Hebrew poet and his audience. It is a well known datum of Israeli history, as well as of Zionist folklore, that the poetry of Nathan Alterman and Abraham Shlonsky, among others, used to be read, recited, and dramatized in the youth camps, around bon-fires. But while pre-state poetry used to be pas sionately debated in the dimly lit dining rooms of the kibbutzim, the poetry of the post-Palmach generation by and large has met with little public acclaim and even less popular acceptance. Apart from its impact on small circles of ar dent enthusiasts, whose genuine devotion to lyric expression is not to be damp ened, modern Hebrew poetry lies languishing in sublime seclusion. When Robert Alter wrote in 1965, that Israel is probably one of the few remaining countries where verse, far from being a dying technique, has managed to stay at the vital centre of literary culture, he was describing a situation that had already ceased to exist.