Lauding prosecution of officials, Rivlin rejects idea Israel is corrupt

President praises legal system, says ‘everyone is equal’ under law in Jewish state

President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday rejected the notion that Israel suffers from corruption, noting that corrupt high-level figures are held responsible for their crimes.

“The State of Israel isn’t corrupt. It is one of the only states in the world that knows how to deal with corruption. From high to low — everyone is equal,” he said at a Jerusalem conference organized by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily.

Rivlin also praised the country’s investigative authorities and separation of powers.

A string of corruption scandals have ensnared a number of senior Israeli leaders in recent years, including former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was released from prison last year after serving 16.5 months of a 19-month sentence for breach of trust and bribery in two separate corruption convictions.

Police recently recommended that Olmert’s successor — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — be indicted in a pair of corruption cases. Netanyahu is also being probed in a third investigation that involves suspicions he advanced regulations benefiting Shaul Elovitch, the owner of the Bezeq telecommunications giant, in exchange for positive coverage on the Walla news site, which is also owned by Elovitch.

Two cabinet ministers and a lawmaker in Netanyahu’s Likud have also been implicated recently in corruption cases, as have other officials.

Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Ehud Olmert at a transfer of power ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on April 1, 2009. (Daniel Bar On/Pool/Flash90)

Despite Rivlin and State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan’s rejection of the idea Israel is corrupt, a study released in February showed a slip in Israel’s corruption ranking, placing it 34th globally.

According to the survey of 180 countries released by the watchdog group Transparency International, Israel is perceived by local experts as being among the least corrupt countries in the Middle East but among the most corrupt in the developed world.

The 2017 Corruption Perception Index placed Israel 23rd out of 35 OECD nations with a score of 62, making it among the more corrupt in the developed world.

In comparison, in 2016 Israel ranked 28th globally with a score of 64, ranking it 22nd-least corrupt among the OECD.