Survey: Most Israelis Believe Their Government Is Corrupt

The data was published by Transparency International as part of its Global Corruption Barometer 2013.

Almost one in ten Israelis (9%) who interacted with government real estate services said that they paid a bribe. Israel is below the global average of 27% of respondents who admitted to paying a bribe in the past year.

The Global Corruption Barometer examined the public’s perception of corruption in public institutions. Although the survey found an improvement in the public’s perception of political parties, they are still perceived as Israel’s most corrupt public institution. The 2010 survey put political parties in first place, with a score of 4.5 (out of 1-5), they had a score of 4.2 in the 2013 survey, still the highest score of public institutions.

In general, 73 percent of Israelis believe the government is run by a coterie of special interests controlled by foreign interests. In the world, Scandinavian countries had the lowest (ranging from 14% to 28%).

Protekzia counts: A whopping 89% of Israelis believe that personal connections or the use of power are essential in dealing with the authorities. This is the highest percentage in the Global Corruption Barometer; the average is 63 percent.

54% of respondents worldwide in the Global Corruption Barometer said that the struggle against corruption was ineffective, compared with 22% of respondents who said that it was effective.

Transparency International Israel director Galia Sagi said, “The Global Corruption Barometer has serious findings about the public’s trust in the political and public system. The report found that the public does not believe that it can receive proper service from the public sector without the use of personal connections and bribery.”

This article appeared in print on page 20 of the July 10th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.