Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had visitors last night: police investigators. According to a report today in the
B. Israel’s PM’s are unwise: Israel is not corrupt more than other countries, but its Prime Ministers are less competent. They want to be corrupt like everybody else, but can’t do it without getting caught (This might explain many of their other failings as leaders of the country).
C. Israel's legal system is thorough: That so many politicians are under investigation is proof that Israel is less corrupt than other countries, and less tolerant of leaders whose standards are low. Israel does not accept corruption as a necessary evil, and expects nothing less than virtuous conduct from its leaders. Its legal system is solid. Its police force fearless. Its media painstakingly professional. Israel is a place in which corruption us not tolerated.
D. Israel is lawyered up: We have too many people whose job is to search for cases to pursue, true or imaginary. We have too many people whose professional ambition is to investigate a Prime Minister, fight against the most powerful institutions in courts. We have too many police officers looking for fame, too many prosecutors looking for high profile cases, too many courts ready to play along with the never ending legal processes. Israel’s legal system is a monster that needs constant feeding – and occasionally it devours a Prime Minister. Instead of having proper standards, we have legalisms.
E. Israel is undemocratic: Yes, we have elections. Yes, the winning coalition is getting a mandate to rule. But the losing coalition found a way to limit and harass the ruling coalition. It found a way to alter election results and mock the will of the people. The legal system is the tool – but politics is the game. The media and the lawyers are utilized by Netanyahu’s political rivals who want to put an end to his very long term as Prime Minister. And since they cannot beat him at the polls, they try to beat him using legal means.
F. Israel’s system is rotten: To be a Prime Minister in Israel and run the country one has no choice but to be somewhat corrupt. To get elected a politician needs money, to raise money a politician needs friends, to have friends with money a politician must accept and give favors. The system is devised in such way that no leader can be a leader unless he or she is willing to stray from proper behavior.
Which of these six explanations is the most valid? As usual, things are rarely clear cut.
Our politicians are a mirror of our society – if Israel is becoming more economically successful, and if Israelis are becoming more braggart with their money – their Prime Ministers naturally do not feel compelled to appear humble and frugal as they have in the distant past. As the ethical and moral codes of Israel's society deteriorate, lawyers step in to feel the void. Where are no standards there is still the law. But the law is often a crude instrument. It does not appreciate the fact that a Prime Minister has a country to run. That there is a public interest in letting him run the country that is, in many cases, greater than the public interest in getting him pay for petty misconduct.
So what is the bottom line? It is obviously undesirable and unreasonable that every Prime Minister will be under investigation. But until Israel figures out why every prime minister undergoes such investigations, we are bound to see this process again and again.
