Poll: Holyland affair most corrupt in 2010
Corruption index published at Sderot Conference for Society finds Jerusalem real estate affair most corrupt; Rishon Tours, Galant document and Hirchson affairs follow; 69% of public: Corruption level very high
Sixty-nine percent of the public believes that the level of corruptness of Israel's government in 2010 is very high. This statistic was exposed as part of a corruption index published during the Sderot Conference for Society held on Tuesday.
Many corruption affairs have been revealed this past year, but it seems they had little effect on the public's perception of the government. In 2009, 67% of voters described authorities as being very corrupt yet again.
The corruption index, published every year, is determined with the help of polls and measurements developed by the Social Resilience Index team.
Only 54% of voters agreed to answer the question: "What was the most corrupt event of 2010?" About half of them (29%) voted for the Holyland affair. The Rishon Tours affair took second place (8%) followed by the Galant document (3%) and Hirchson (3%) affairs.
Hirchson going to jail, tied with Galant (Photo: Hagai Aharon)
During the Sderot Conference for Society the members preferred to avoid choosing the most corrupt and least corrupt people, and settled for a less controversial version. This correction was made in light of the harsh criticism the index endured last year, when it was blamed for trying to sway public opinion.
"After four years, we've decided not to publish an index for the most corrupt people, not for lack of corruption or corrupters, but we've come to a professional realization that political diversions and media influence on the public cause great distortion," explained the President of the Conference, Major-General (res.) Uzi Dayan.
Parties still voted corrupt
The political parties have won, yet again, the dubious honor of being selected as the most corrupt institutions. A new record of dissatisfaction was found – 69% of voters expressed their dislike of politicians' behavior. In 2009, the parties received 61% of the votes, and only in 2008 were the parties chosen as the most corrupt institutions by voters.
Coming in at second place are local authorities, chosen by 43% of the voters – a 9% increase since the 2009 poll. The Knesset was picked for third place with 41% of the votes, followed by governmental offices (38%).
Defense forces didn't make the 'good' list (Photo: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv)
Other institutes described as corrupt to very corrupt were: The media and manpower companies (34% each), the Histadrut labor federation (29%), the judicial system (24%), banks and police (22% each). Those improving their rankings were social security, police and the business community, dropping 4-5% in corruption stats.
More improvement for health system
The poll also shows that the most corrupt act, as viewed by the public, is using public finances for personal purposes - 91% of voters agreed this is the most corrupt act.
Appointing relatives to public positions that are not suited for them was voted by 88% as a corrupt to a very corrupt act, and 84% of voters included receiving money or benefits in exchange for promoting personal gain.
The health system continues to improve its ratings from last year, when 11% of voters claimed it was not operating properly, by a 3% drop in the corruption poll this year.
The IDF and the defense system, voted first place last year for proper conduct, did drop to second place in 2010, but only 9% of the public believes that defense forces are corrupt to very corrupt, compared to 6% in 2009.
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