The Marker: Netanyahu leads a government of corrupt news

The Israeli economic newspaper “The Marker” revealed an unprecedented outbreak of corruption in the Benjamin Netanyahu government.

She said in an expanded report today, Monday, that it is a government that represents a model for the rule of an accused elite or a suspect, in which the country is ruled by undermining law enforcement devices, intimidation of witnesses, and imposing personal loyalty, while using an international network of allies to undermine the investigations and fortify those involved.

A club for the accused elites

“We live under a corrupt government,” the newspaper added, as the Israeli government is not satisfied with not fighting corruption, but rather those who seek to fight it. This repression includes honorable police investigators, judicial system, state witnesses, and even media outlets.

She continued, “Corruption here is not just an ethical issue, but rather a general corruption with all that the word means: the use of the general position to serve personal and sectoral interests at the expense of the public interest.

The “The Marker” indicated in its report that the ruling coalition led by Netanyahu has turned into something similar to “a club of the accused elite”: involved politicians or suspects, administrative leaders under investigation, and patronage episodes in which politics overlap with money and security interests.

The report listed a long list of issues that include investigations with ministers, churches and prominent security officials:

My Golan, the minister in the Netanyahu government, is subject to an investigation after the approval of Attorney General Ghali Bahrav-Marara, on suspicion of fake appointments in an association close to it and illegally transferring public funds.

Kobe Yaqoubi, the Prison Authority Commissioner, the Public Prosecution charged him with leaking secret information and obstructing an investigation with a police officer, when he was secretary of the National Security Security Minister Etamar bin Ghafir, but the minister allowed him to stay in office despite the indictment.

Hanoukh Militsky, a Knesset member and head of the Finance Committee, was interrogated on suspicion of his involvement in a rape case.

Next Gottlieb, another church member, faces an indictment after she revealed the name of a senior security official, and she did not attend the investigation or the hearing.

Miri Regev, a prominent minister, is subject to an investigation in what is known as the “diamond issue” on suspicious appointments and political favoritism, and despite the police recommending the closure of the file, the facts reveal a blatant corruption in the use of public resources.

David Betan, Chairman of the Economy Committee, has been accused of receiving bribes since 2017, and his trial has not yet ended despite the accusation list in 2021.

In addition to the 3000 case known as the submarine file, in which he was charged with senior officials in the Ministry of Defense, in which Netanyahu received an official warning from an investigation committee headed by Judge Asher Grunis, indicating that the results indicate Netanyahu’s personal responsibility. Added to this is the other issues of Netanyahu.

Foundation

The Marker saw that what is happening is no longer individual corruption, but rather turned into institutional corruption, run by the government itself through legislation that hinders investigations, gives immunity to officials, and imposes political loyalty.

She pointed to an example of this “the withdrawal of the hard -line Orthodox parties from the government,” adding that despite their ministerial resignation, they kept their executives at their positions to continue to distribute resources to their sectors.

“The ministries are no longer tools to serve the people. Rather, they have become tools for transferring money and appointments to calculated, and the executive heads have turned into executive arms of corruption.”

The report considers that the most dangerous thing that the Netanyahu government has accomplished is the dismantling of the law enforcement system, which made the elected officials accountable almost impossible. Justice Minister Yarif Levin suffocates the judiciary, prevents the appointment of judges, and leads committees to intimidate the Attorney General and the police.

On the other hand, the accused figures are treated for preferential treatment, and their trials extend for years without being decided, as is the case in the cases of Betan, Regev and Gottalib.

The report touched on what the International Support Network called the corrupt, specifically from leaders such as Donald Trump, whose ambassador, Mike Hackabi appeared in the Netanyahu court, appeared in an attempt to influence the judiciary.

He raised harsh questions: “Did Trump demanded an investigation into the October 7 massacre? Did Putin demanded an investigation into the rape accused by a church deputy against Russian residing? Of course not, Netanyahu’s external allies are not demanding anything, but rather playing impunity.”

Corruption protection

In the face of this corruption, Netanyahu and his followers are fortified with more legislation that enhances parliamentary immunity, and it is forbidden to open an investigation against a Knesset member without prior permission from the Knesset itself, as MP Gottlieb suggests.

As for the press, it represents the greatest danger to the corruption network, and for this reason the Minister of Communications Shlomo leads Ka’i a campaign to dismantle the Public Broadcasting Authority and give the government to control commercial media, in a clear attempt to greet the independent press.

The report reminded that most of the corruption cases began thanks to the press, such as the Regev case (raised thanks to the journalist Rafif Drucker), the Golan case (Hadlasut 12), and the investigation of police investigators (Haaretz).

The Marker warned that “corruption is an expression of the collapse of accountability,” considering that the absence of accountability has become a systematic policy of the government, and its only goal for two years is to avoid any popular or legal accountability, by controlling the judiciary, police, media, legislation, and even witnesses.