FM Lieberman tops 'corruption index'
Annual survey presented at Israel-Sderot Conference on Social Issues shows public perceives left-wing MKs as most uncorrupt elected representatives
The "corruption index" ranks Israel's ministers and Knesset members according to their corruption and integrity as perceived by the public.
The ministers perceived as most corrupt are:
1. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (58% noted that his public conduct is corrupt or very corrupt)
2. Interior Minister Eli Yishai (52%)
3. Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (39%)
4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (39%)
5. Defense Minister Ehud Barak (37%)
6. Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat (32%)
The ministers perceived as least corrupt are:
1. Benny Begin (77% noted that his public conduct is uncorrupt or very uncorrupt)
2. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (68%)
3. Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog (67%)
4. Intelligence & Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor (63%)
5. National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau (62%)
In the Israeli parliament, the Knesset members perceived as most corrupt are those belonging to the Arab parties and the Kadima party:
1. MK Mohammad Barakeh (64% noted that his public conduct is corrupt or very corrupt)
2. MK Ahmad Tibi (58%)
3. MK Ruhama Avraham (56%)
4. MK Tzachi Hanegbi (52%)
5. MK Ronnie Bar-On (48%)
Most of the Knesset members perceived as most decent come from the left side of the political spectrum, many of them former journalists:
1. MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) (77% noted that his public conduct is uncorrupt or very uncorrupt)
2. MK Uri Orbach (Habayit Hayehudi) (74%)
3. MK Chaim Oron (Meretz) (72%)
4. MK Shelly Yacimovich (Labor) (72%)
5. MK Ilan Ghilon (Meretz) (67%)
It should be noted that only one of the 10 public figures perceived as most uncorrupt was a woman (Shelly Yacimovich), compared to four women included in last year's survey. Yacimovich topped the 2007 survey as the most uncorrupt elected representative.
Opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who was ranked as one of the top three uncorrupt public officials in the 2006 and 2007 surveys, reached the 18th place in this year's poll, with 59% of the public perceiving her conduct as uncorrupt and 20% perceiving her conduct as corrupt.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was ranked as one of the most corrupt politicians for years and has since been indicted, was not included in this year's survey as he no longer holds an official position.
The index is based on a telephone survey conducted by the Maagar Mochot research institute among 555 respondents. The politicians were ranked according to the gap between those who perceived them as "decent" and those who perceived them as "corrupt".
Yael Branovsky contributed to this report
