 |
Isi Leibler chairs the Diaspora-Israel relations committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and is a veteran Jewish international leader.
|
|
|
|
By Isi Leibler
January 18, 2007
 Bookmark to del.icio.us
Of late, many of us have been warning that corruption poses a greater threat to our future than our external adversaries and that unless reversed, like a cancer it will ultimately destroy the Zionist dream.
Alas, today the stench of corruption has become all pervasive. We are drowning in a sea of moral turpitude. Even as we abide by the principal of presumption of innocence until convicted in a court of law, too much is going on not to be sickened by what surrounds us. Each time we think we have reached the bottom, yet another layer of sleaze is exposed. Our rage, contempt and disillusionment grow daily and morale has reached an all time low.
The government, civil service, business sector, and all levels of society, have become degraded by leaders willing to forego ethical norms and decency because of greed and the selfish pursuit of their personal agendas. The collapse of public morality was undoubtedly a major factor contributing to the leadership breakdown during the bungled Lebanon war.
Our President, whose predecessor retired prematurely under a cloud, was accused of sexual misdemeanors and illegally providing pardons. Former Prime Minister Sharon underwent police interrogation for a series of alleged transgressions. His son Omri sacrificed himself to protect his father and was sentenced to jail for criminal conduct. Ministers and senior officials of virtually all political parties have been implicated in various misdemeanors.
The nation was shocked when the head and senior echelons of the Taxation Authority were charged for having accepted bribes and indulged in fraudulent activity. The prime Minister's bureau chief was placed under house arrest and his top aide was under investigation.
The latest news is that on his return from a state visit to China, the Prime minister may himself undergo criminal investigations.
We also face problems with our law enforcement authorities. The moment the police possess potentially incriminating information, they seem predisposed to leak the details to the media even before the suspect is indicted. Even news of the criminal investigation of the Prime Minister was apparently leaked to the media before the Prime Minister had been informed. There have been cases where following police "leaks", reputations were permanently tarnished when individuals accused in the media of criminal behavior were not indicted and unable to exonerate themselves.
The fault lies with the Attorney General. He should realize that a presumption of innocence until convicted remains the hallowed hallmark of a democracy. He must insist that leaks to the media from the police will result in severe disciplinary action.
On the other hand despite this gloomy environment, there are grounds for believing that we may be on the verge of extricating ourselves from this shameful morass.
We must remind ourselves that whilst crude public corruption seems to have plunged to its nadir, it is certainly not a new phenomenon for this country. During the period of Mapai hegemony, the socialist ideologues were hardly pristine pure. Vitamin P for Protekzia was the order of the day and jobs were dependent on connections with influential party members. Irgun veterans rarely attained senior civil service positions because Prime Minister Ben-Gurion imposed a cordon sanitaire against them.
Mapai Finance Minister Pinchas Sapir, a dedicated Zionist, paved the way for subsequent breaches of the law by authorizing improper practices in relation to Party fundraising. Moshe Dayan looted archeological sites for personal gain with impunity. His oft publicized sexual escapades were more admired than criticized.
However there is no denying that the level of corruption in the public domain then was far less acute than today. This is highlighted by the stark contrast between the modest lifestyles of leaders from Ben-Gurion to Begin (and their Ministers) and their venal successors. Most Knesset members considered the welfare of the nation above their personal interests. Exposure for unethical behavior represented the ultimate disgrace and the end of a public career. Thus, when Housing Minister Avraham Ofer was charged with illegal activities (benefiting the Party), his shame was so great that it led him to commit suicide. And when Leah Rabin was exposed for maintaining a minor illegal foreign currency account, her husband felt impelled to resign as Prime Minister -- a far cry from the response of politicians today.
Two key events paved the way for the escalating collapse of moral standards in the public domain. Desperate to attain a Knesset majority to endorse the Oslo Accords, Yitzchak Rabin employed political patronage to bribe unprincipled opposition members -- including Gonen Segev, who was subsequently convicted of a drug related felony. The Labor party primaries also became corrupt as exemplified by the annulment of the ballot for the leadership between Avram Burg and Benjamin Ben-Eliezer because more Druze voters supported Burg than were registered in the party. The corrupt practices in the public domain desensitized the people and provided a green light to other politicians to feather their nests bringing about a proliferation of other scandals
This accelerated when the Likud Central Committee which selected candidates for the Knesset was expanded by Avigdor Lieberman, from a body of 100 to 3000 members. Subsequently, in the campaign against Netanyahu, Omri Sharon recruited additional elements, including a number allegedly linked to the criminal world.
This led to the displacement of the Mapai genre of "aristocratic" corruption based on Protekzia and jobs for the boys and the control by the Revisionist leaders committed to Hadar -- a strict code of moral behavior and honor. The brassy newly empowered "plebeian" masters of Likud lacked ideological motivation and finesse.Their prime motivation was to redivide the spoils for themselves. Some candidates were even shamelessly remunerated with hard cash in return for their support.
Yet despite this awful state of affairs, the good news is that in recent times, riding on the crest of popular national and media outrage, the police have become emboldened. In contrast to the past, they are confronting leading politicians and members of the establishment suspect of having breached the law. Indeed the flood of new scandals being exposed is undoubtedly also a byproduct of the more aggressive implementation of law enforcement.
There are now genuine grounds for hoping that we will soon witness an end to the sleaze. Once the present dysfunctional government goes -- which is only a matter of time -- the next Prime Minister will be obliged to make the elimination of corruption a central objective. Netanyahu, one of the main contenders, has already publicly confronted the Likud Central Committee and demanded reforms.
Our responsibility as concerned citizens is to continue exerting pressure to achieve governance, financial transparency, and trust, in order to ensure that Israel remain a viable democratic state.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
