The Corruption in Israel is Rising and the Clock is Ticking
As the rockets from Olmert's retreat from Gaza continue to slam into Sderot, the government has finally decided to do something about the problem. No, not the problem of the shelling of Sderot from Gaza but the problem of Mayor Eli Moyal who has served as the outspoken voice of Sderot, refusing evacuation plans and repeatedly demanding that the government do something about the situation. The latest step involved a plan by the residents of Sderot to head to Yerushalayim and to hold classes on the Knesset lawn.
After delaying for over a year, the government finally took swift action. Detectives descended on Sderot's city hall accompanied by the National Fraud Squad and the Tax Authority to investigate charges of corruption. Eli Moyal has voluntarily suspended himself and declared his innocence. That of course did not help fellow Likud Sefardi politician, Moshe Katsav. At least Olmert's people aren't bothering to accuse Eli Moyal of rape, even they know a cliche when they see it.
Meanwhile the rockets keep falling but an example is being made out of a Mayor who had become too vocal and confrontational. The message is that the same example can be made out of anyone. The disgusting charade of Olmert's government, a man who himself was on trial for corruption, siccing his dogs on his political opponents has only begun.
All the while Olmert continues trying to force the dismissal of Accountant General Yaron Zelekha who is set to testify against Olmert in the Bank Leumi bribery scandal. Zelekha has said that this is the fourth attempt by Olmert to fire him and this one appears to have succeeded with Finance Minister Roni Bar On leading the coverup. Zelekha had started out as an advisor to Netanyahu and went on to serve as a thorn in the side of the Sharon and Olmert governments and their wealthy buddies overseas who were busy trying to buy up the country while slipping money to the Sharon Crime Family and Olmert under the table.
But it was the privatization of Bank Leumi when Olmert replaced Netanyahu at the treasury and worked to influence the tender so it went to a buddy of his that resulted in Zelekha's testimony opening an investigation against Olmert. Olmert has in turn accused Zelekha of subversion against the government (the same accusation aimed at the settlers) and announced that he would have him fired. Should Zelekha succeed in hanging on to his post, no doubt sooner or later anonymous figures will emerge to claim he assaulted them or the detectives will descend on his office as well.
Zelekha has called the Olmert government the most rotten in history, which it is. But it has its roots in the legal and political infrastructure of the country. When Sharon formed Kadima he carried along with him the biggest sellouts and the men and women with the least morals from Likud and Labor. Olmert's Peace Now connections allow him to tap into a left wing culture at the judicial level that will protect him so long as he continues putting Arab interests over Jewish ones. While the sham of the Israeli Supreme Court continues forcing changes to the wall, the legal system cracks down on settler activists while allowing anarchists and Peace Now activists to conduct a reign of terror against Jewish farmers.
Even in the face of a coming war with Iran, Olmert continues concentrating on appeasing America by meeting with Abbas and contemplating the handover of still more territory into enemy hands. And the Sderots that will arise from that catastrophe will not be addressed by the IDF but by treating those who expose the incompetence and corruption of the government, the Katsavs, the Moya's and the Zelekhas as enemies of the state. The corrupt oligarchy which Netanyahu attempted to prune back is now wreaking havoc on the nation. Its corruption has infected every sector of society and every political party, its dishonesty has corrupted even the culture itself, both business and personal. And the time is running out to purge the cliques and clean house.
In the last war IDF soldiers went sent underequipped into combat. In a matter of months or at most years, Israel will have a showdown with a nuclear armed Iran, which now controls Gaza and perhaps soon the West Bank. Under men such as Olmert, Israel will lose. While Olmert and portions of Kadima no doubt have planes waiting on runways and children already living abroad, ready to scamper away much as the Polish government did when the Germans went in, that is not an option for the nation. If they are not purged, Israel will be.
