Rotten to the core?

The level of corruption in Israel political life and the government itself has become epidemic.

• In today's news it was reported that the Finance Minister, Avraham Hirschson, is under police investigation for complicity in a case of embezzlement at a non-profit organization during his term as the Chair of the Board. (They are trying to determine if duly reported the crime to the proper authorities.)
• A few days ago, it was announced that the Tax Authority leadership plus the Bureau Chief of the Prime Minister's Office along with a few businesspeople (one of whom was the brother of the PMO chief) were under investigation for bribery.
• A week or so before that, it was announced that Inspector-General's point-person for examining government corruption, a former high ranking police officer, was done under investigation for corruption. It's alleged that he was in contact with the [Ariel] Sharon family offering to allow the accusation of corruption to die in exchange for being appointed the head of the Israeli Police.
• The criminal trail of former (Justice) Minister Haim Ramon for sexual harassment is winding up.
• The decision to indict President Moshe Katsav, who's been beleaguered by accusations of sexual harassment, corruption and abuse of power for the last six months or so, is expected shortly. If indicted, he promised to resign. However, recently there's been some backtracking (mostly via his lawyers and friends).
• The Chair of the Knesset Security & Foreign Affairs Committee, Tzachi Hanegbi, continues to be under investigation for his involvement in corruption (patronage appointments) and financial irregularities at a charity he headed. He has not resigned his position.
• There's the on-going investigations into Avigdor Lieberman (currently the Minister for Strategic Initiatives) which has been going on for the last eight years or so (which might have been closed) and the possibility of a new one. He's not a really popular character, except for those who vote for his party, so it's also possible some of the criminal accusations are politically motivated.
• Then, there's the ongoing investigations into the activities of the Prime Minister himself! Ehud Olmert (not a favourite of mine!) has been in and out of court over various accusations of corruption. Now there are two more police investigations about his behaviour as Minister of Industry & Small Business and as the Finance Minister. We'll see where they lead to.

Then there are the past accusations, which lead to convictions:

• During Ariel Sharon's last term as PM, there were a number of accusations. His son, Omri, was sentenced to a jail term. His other son, Gilad may also have been sentenced.
• Naomi Blumenthal was convicted of bribery/breach of trust for paying for Likud party activist to stay in a hotel, and then lying about it, to have them vote for her during a primary election. Upon indictment, Ariel Sharon fired her from the cabinet.
• Aryeh Deri was convicted a number of years ago for accepting kickbacks for arranging land deals, while he was the Minister of Interior and responsibility for the Israel Land Authority.

I'm sure I've missed (or mistaken) several other incidents of corruption. And above list only represents national public figures. The cities and regional councils have been excluded.

There seems to be a permanent cloud of suspicion of corruption hanging over the Israeli governments and public service. What's going on?

A large part of the problem is the lack of accountability to the public. Politicians are beholden to their political party and especially to the central committee who votes for them and assigns them their party ranking on the ballot. So, instead of having to compete for the trust of a specific geographic population, who could challenge them to perform more ethically and serve their needs, politicians do what they must to convince their party of of their worth to be placed high on the party list. (Only the Labour Party has an open primary among its members to determine the party list. The rest of parties determine their list by central committee).

Another factor is the historical dependence on the government to determine national priorities. It seems that the government, especially the Knesset, is the central national institution. There's a tiny voluntary sector and a vocal extremist polity to challenge the government to adjust its priorities to better reflect the larger concerns of the Israeli public.

The net result is a country ruled by elderly party leaders -- who've done their duty to the party and refuse to step aside for the younger leaders, unless forced -- who seem interested in advancing their personal agenda, even at the expense of the larger Israeli society.