It's the bureaucracy, stupid
Decades of corruption paralyzed government; Olmert, here's an agenda for you
The many public opinion polls undertaken and published since last summer show that the majority blames the political and military leadership for the failures of the second Lebanon War. The public is disappointed by the government's and top military brass' conduct.
The failed preparation for inquires, the process of drawing lessons and repairing flaws, the helplessness in the face of the crisis faced by Qassam-ridden Sderot residents, and quarrels and spins regularly produced by the political leadership - are all perceived as proof that those at the country's helm are unable to fix what needs fixing and address the future challenges and threats we are facing.
The bottom line: The people of Israel see a leadership vacuum and view it as a reason for existential anxiety. The people are right, but only partly so.
The leadership crisis is only one reason, and not necessarily the most important one, for the ongoing functional failure by Israeli authorities. The other, more severe reason is the degeneration of the public administration and its corruption, which led to a worrisome decline in the execution ability of almost all government arms – ministries, the IDF, and also the police.
We all know from personal experience the lack of efficiency, suffocating bureaucracy, struggles over power and honor, and particularly the unsuitable people who currently hold on to key public sector posts. These phenomena were always there to some extent and always undermined the citizen's quality of life. Yet at times of emergency or crisis, the public service in the State of Israel usually was able to outdo itself and function much better than it did day-to-day.
Public service officials and IDF officers were the ones who initiated and took the lead when politicians disappointed in the Six-Day War; Treasury officials offered the government the right solution and were able to implement it when the economy was facing inflation of hundreds of percent in the 1980s; the establishment functioned well also during the long months where Prime Minister Begin was staying at home unable to function.
Yet this was not the case in the recent Lebanon war, where the home front was abandoned and required the help of volunteer organizations. This is also not the case today where government decisions on fortifying western Negev communities, fighting organized crime, solving the local authorities' crisis, and other problems remain unimplemented.
Ministries become 'employment agencies'
The paralysis that overcame the government system in recent years is unprecedented. It does not stem from a lack of leadership by politicians. We cannot say, for example, that Ariel Sharon lacked leadership abilities. Yet he too had to slam his fist on the table a few times so that construction of the West Bank security fence finally gets underway.This is not a conspiracy either. This paralysis is first and foremost the result of decades of political corruption that was mainly manifested through thousands of improper appointments of unsuitable people to key posts – ranging from the appointment of political "foot soldiers" used to garner support for politicians to posts of director generals and branch mangers, to creating needless posts for minister loyalists.
When a minister would be replaced a year or two later, and at times several months later due to a coalition crisis, the process would repeat itself. And so, without long-term policies and priorities, low-level officials were left to address the real problems on their own, confused by contradictory instructions and attempting to appease the new minister and his close associates.
The big avalanche came when the law for direct elections for prime minister was passed and implemented. With the passage of time, the central committees of large parties turned into job-hungry monsters, while the smaller parties that joined coalitions turned government ministries into a pipeline for pouring money into their coffers, and for employment agencies for supporters.
Another reason for the degeneration of the public service is the ongoing cutbacks to the operational budgets of government ministries that led to unreasonable burden on officials and to chronic operational impotence. The third reason is the bureaucratic and legal mess aimed at preventing corruption, but which in practice paralyzes the system and encourages endless discussions and meetings that waste time and crush every project until it loses its relevance and makes room for a new pet project, which receives the same treatment.
We can assume that even if the regime in Israel was politically stable and the prime minister did not need to constantly deal with his survival and the coalition's survival, the situation would not change much. As long as the culture of political appointments persists, and as long as the State of Israel does not boast a genuine "civil service" that acts in accordance with government directives but based on professional standards, the functioning of the public service will not improve.
Moderate political reform may indeed assist the process of recovery by preventing frequent changes at the top of government ministries. Yet what is really needed is a reform in the government culture and the establishment of strict, professional standards for manning public service posts.
In order to end the current paralysis, the government must formulate a policy and national priorities at all areas; establish a clear division of work and assign tasks to the various ministries, the IDF, police and the intelligence community. These ministries and the other bodies must prepare annual and long-term work plans, and the ministers must monitor their implementation.
And this is not it: Government ministers and ministries' director generals will be required to report to the government every quarter regarding the progress in implementing the plans and projects and to provide explanations if and when the implementation is behind schedule or fails. These reports, aside from truly classified security affairs, will be publicized, and the public would be able to judge and reward, at the polls, the various politicians in accordance with their achievements in the areas they are responsible for, and not based on their performance in the media.
If Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is looking for a worthy agenda – here it is.
