If there were such a thing as a universal grading scale forcorruption, Israel would find itself firmly in the middle. It isundoubtedly a less corrupt state than, say, Liberia or Indonesia.But it is much more corrupt than Britain or Germany.
I consider myself somewhat of an expert in the field. As the editor of”HaOlam Hazeh,” and later as a member of Parliament, I waged a relentlesswar on corruption. I publicized not only the biggest scandals in thestate’s history but hundreds of smaller scandals as well.
Was I successful? It depends on one’s definition of success. In theearly years of the state, there was a lot of corruption of a personalnature, such as dipping into and stealing from public funds. This type ofoccurrence has diminished considerably over the years. But corruption hasnot disappeared. On the contrary: It has grown to gigantic proportions.Only now it is an open, official corruption, sanctioned by anestablishment which controls all of the state systems.
Let us take the most simple example: A small-time party bureaucrat,devoid of any talents, an individual whose entire strength lies in histongue (that part which speaks and which licks someone’s behind) isappointed “Director” of a public institution. This is the epitome ofcorruption. The State Comptroller has already defined this as plainstealing, because it denies the public’s right to control its funds in aproper manner. But it is a widespread phenomenon. The appointment of asuitable person — man or woman — to the position of “Director” is theexception. The appointment of an individual lacking any required skillsis the rule. And we are talking about thousands of various positions.
When there is a change in government, many thousands of small-timebureaucrats in the victorious camp storm the public body like a swarm ofhungry rats.
(A professor from one of the more corrupt states in South America oncetold me why he opposes any coup d’etat. “The leeches of the currentgovernment have already sucked out enough blood; therefore their bite isnot as vicious. With a government overthrow, a fresh horde of new andravenous leeches will appear, and until those are satiated, it will beawful.”)
There is not a single Western state in which the entire political realm issubject to the tireless maneuvers of an individual who has been the targetof a huge corruption trial. But Aryeh Deri, who channeled huge funds fromthe public purse to his Shas party, and perhaps to his own pocket as well,claims, somewhat correctly, that he has only done what “everybody elsedoes.” His only crime was that he was inexperienced, too sure of himselfand too impatient, which is why he was unable to channel his corrupt actsinto legal venues.
Whenever a group of operators calling itself “a party” sells its votes forhuge benefits, public and private, it is legal corruption. When a PrimeMinister buys these votes in return for hundreds of millions of dollarsfrom the public’s coffers which are not his to raid, he engages incorruption on a gigantic scale, even if it is seemingly legal. Thebeneficiaries of such corruption are, supposedly, “Public Institutions.”But those institutions consist of individuals, and a large portion of themoney gets diverted into private pockets. When this is done in the nameof the Torah of Israel, then the stink rises sky-high.
The conversion of confiscated land to settlements (“State Lands”) veryoften also involves a high level of corruption. While using lofty wordsabout the People of Israel and the Holy Land, billions of dollars worth ofproperty is turned over to contractors and their political partners. Thelove of Israel and the love of money have come down from heaven hand inhand.
Young people who entered the Knesset as poor lawyers have turned intomulti-millionaires in a matter of a few short years. They have engaged inwhat Americans refer to as “influence peddling.” Junior clerks who havegotten close to the Prime Minister (and it does not matter which one),retire and conduct international deals worth billions of dollars,exploiting the connections made during their government stint. Even ifthey do not receive millions of dollars in bribes (which at times is theclaim), nevertheless this is government-sanctioned corruption, with nolaws against it.
One could go on and on. The bottom line is that hundreds of thousands ofchildren in Israel live below the poverty line, while the corruption ofthe upper echelons eats up a large portion of the gross domestic product.The public regards this with equanimity, and even the unemployed in thelowest ranks aren’t angry. Tomorrow they will once again voteenthusiastically for the Likud, which at present runs this sorry show.
And why is it that our media is not available to vigorously address thisproblem? Because the media is occupied with trying to ferret outPalestinian corruption. There, in regions which are not even a state yet,within an Authority established overnight without benefit of priorexperience or advance preparations, there is — surprise! — corruption.In order to keep unity in a society divided into great families, while thenational struggle is still at its height, Arafat has been forced to parcelout governmental posts among those families and groups, not alwaysaccording to the most talented. Because the Palestinian economy has beensystematically devastated by the Israeli occupation, there is preciouslittle else to parcel out — and those who have been shortchanged havebecome disgruntled. But listening to Israel’s complaints, one is forcedto smile: In comparison to our gargantuan, state-sanctioned corruption,corruption within the Palestinian system is fairly innocuous. Whoops, Inearly said: May we have such corruption.