Bibi: Concerned about government corruption
צילום: אלי אלגרט
Bibi: Media should expose corruption
Likud leader Netanyahu says government center of corruption, slams 'media's silence'
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the government constitutes the focal point of corruption in Israel, slamming the media for failing to expose the disturbing reality he was describing.
"The biggest corruption in Israel is not in the political parties, or in the Knesset, it's in the government", he said, blasting the "media's silence" on the matter.
Bibi's charges came during an evening in celebrating former Likud Minister Moshe Arens' 80th birthday at Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.
Retired High Court Chief Justice Meir Shamgar, who delivered a speech before Netanyahu, also mentioned corruption and government ethics.
"Israel is in 26th place in the world corruption index. There is a need to fight corruption and eradicate it. A public servant should see himself as one who only serves the public," the former judge said.
'Democracy's watchdogs don't even bark'
Netanyahu was supposed to address the meeting on the topic of Israel-U.S. relations. Instead, he announced that he changed the topic and will speak about government corruption.
"Corruption is in the government. Not only in the government and its ministers, but in its wide sense, when it comes to its amassed power," Netanyahu said.
"In the state of Israel there is massive clustering of power. That's where corruption starts. It's not as if organized crime infiltrated the government, but crime exists in the broad sense of the government," he said.
Netanyahu, known for his love-hate relationship with the media, than proceeded to issue a scathing attack: "The first to blame is the media, which does not expose corruption. People who are completely honest, and I am one of them, are branded as corrupt."
Netanyahu complimented Arens and hinted at corruption during Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's time in office, as well as Olmert's.
"When Misha (Arens) was minister of defense and I was the prime minister, government corruption was not mentioned like this, nor during (former Prime Minister) Yitzhak Shamir and (former Prime Minister) Menachem Begin's time. The deterioration belongs to the past few years, and it's still around," Bibi said.
"I have serious complaints against the judiciary. Perhaps it will change now, I hope so. Democracy's watchdogs don't even bark. An editorial here and there. All this talk about corruption will not undermine it and will not get rid of the disease," Netanyahu concluded.
