Rattling the Cage: Would everybody please stop kvetching?
Israelis have no real problem with corruption. No elected politician ever lost popularity because he was corrupt.
By LARRY DERFNER
Security in Israel is about as good as it gets around here. Suicide bombings have become a rarity; just the threat of one is now a big news story. The northern border is again quiet, Sderot is, if not quiet, considerably quieter than it's been. Israelis don't think twice about getting on buses or shopping downtown. Judging by their behavior, as opposed to their words, people in this country feel safe.
Meanwhile, the economy keeps growing. The war in Lebanon last summer didn't cause anything more than a brief downturn. True, about half the Israeli population is either poor or close to it, but that's nothing new. For this country's "haves," and for the national economy overall, it's clear sailing.
Even driving a car in Israel is becoming safer all the time, believe it or not. Last year there were fewer road deaths than there have been in 20 years.
Yet to listen to Israelis, and to listen to the news media, the whole country is falling apart. All systems are in collapse. The leaders stink. Corruption and incompetence are everywhere. Tragically, people have become alienated from the state, from the society.
Oh, do me a favor.
FIRST OF ALL, Israelis have no real problem with corruption. No elected Israeli politician ever lost popularity because he was corrupt, or suspected of corruption. Some, like Arye Deri, Binyamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, even gained popularity by claiming the police were persecuting them for political reasons.
Is Arkadi Gaydamak not suspected of massive corruption? Did this stop him from becoming one of the most powerful, popular men in Israel?
I don't know which complaint I'm hearing more - that the leaders are corrupt, or that the justice system is too hard on the leaders. Could it be that Israelis just need to kvetch about whoever's in the headlines?
What a terrible situation, they moan. The new chief of police is already in hot water, the one before him was forced to resign, the head of the army resigns before he can be fired, the justice minister is convicted of sexual molestation, the president is going to be indicted for rape, the prime minister may be forced out for corruption or incompetency, or both, and the defense minister may be forced to go with him.
WHAT CAN I say, except: That's entertainment. Because the point is that this country is not falling apart. Can anybody explain how Moshe Katsav's disgrace has hurt anyone but himself? If his disgrace has hurt the institution of the presidency, does anyone give a rip? If Shimon Peres becomes the new president, will it make a difference to anybody but Shimon Peres?
This is a very interesting show we're watching, that's all. These resignations and firings and investigations don't hurt Israelis' lives, and they don't hurt the life of the nation, either.
While I think Dan Halutz got a bum rap, is the IDF lost without him? Do we have any less personal security, does Israel have any less national security, now that Gabi Ashkenazi is the chief of staff? Is any 18-year-old Israeli boy going to dodge the draft, or become any less of a soldier, because of the Winograd Commission?
The same holds true for the rest of the leaders under fire, or fired already. Can Israel survive, can we Israelis survive, without Moshe Katsav as president, without Moshe Karadi (or even Yaakov Genot) as chief of police, without Haim Ramon as justice minister, without Amir Peretz as defense minister, without Ehud Olmert as prime minister?
I think we can survive just fine. Maybe even better.
People are saying this is a corrupt country, a dysfunctional country. I think all these investigations show just the opposite; but even among those who think Israel is going to the dogs - are any of them leaving the country, or thinking of leaving, because of what Katsav did to "A" or what Ramon did to "H"? Is anyone holding off on having another child, or remodeling the house, because Halutz failed to make Hizbullah disappear, or because Karadi fiddled while the mafia bought a few police officers?
IN 22 years of living in Israel, I've never been approached by a civil servant for a bribe, I don't know any woman who's been raped or sexually molested by a politician, I haven't been threatened by the mafia - and I don't know anybody who has. These things happen here, but corruption and lawlessness are not the way of life in Israel like they are in Russia, China or dozens upon dozens of other countries in the world.
Furthermore, the IDF is one of the world's best armies, and if the Israel Police isn't one of the world's best police forces, it's not because of corruption.
I think the reason we're seeing Israeli leaders dropping like flies is partly because law enforcement is getting tougher and more victims are coming forward, which are good reasons; partly because Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz is a real go-getter, which is another good reason; and, in the case of Halutz, Olmert, Peretz and the Winograd Commission, because the public needs scapegoats for a war that failed on account of its goal - the vanquishing of Hizbullah - being totally unrealistic. That's a bad reason.
ISRAELIS MAY be in a terrible mood about the country, but the country is in very good shape. There are security threats, but there always have been and always will be. The important thing is that except for the 33 days of war last summer and the intermittent rocketing over the border from Gaza, this has been a safe country to live in for the last three years, and there's a good chance it will go on being safe for years to come.
The economy offers a Western standard of living to people with good professional skills, which is a lot of people. The Israeli middle-class lives well.
The only problems in this country that I would call grievous are: 1. the extent of poverty; 2. the second-class citizenship of Israeli Arabs; and 3. the increasingly extreme attitudes of many citizens, Jewish and Arab.
As for Israel's occupation of the West Bank, I know Palestinian civilians are suffering terribly, but I must admit - I find it hard to grieve for them that much when the blame lies predominantly with their own elected leadership, not Israel's.
And if Israel is passing up a chance for peace with Syria, which I think it is, are we realistically talking about much of a chance?
ONLY A FEW years ago this country was exploding with terror, businesses were closing left and right, Israelis were being thrown out of work, foreigners were afraid to visit or invest here, and soldiers and settlers were being killed regularly in Gaza as well as in the West Bank.
Today we have some corruption in high places, some incompetence, a few instances of office sex-crime. No national tragedies here. In fact, the only reason this stuff is making such big headlines is because, thank God, there's so little genuine national tragedy to report.
So would everybody please stop kvetching?