The World Bank figures are in the public domain, and were republished yesterday by Business Data Israel (BDI).

The World Bank government efficiency index examines the quality of public services. It ranks the professionalism of government officials providing the services, bureaucracy, political pressure on officials and government's credibility regarding policy commitments. The Israeli index reached 80.8 percent, trailing developed countries like Holland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, France and Spain. The average ranking in the developed world was 89.7 percent.

The government corruption index compares the public's perception on whether government power is used to promote private interests. Israel again scored 80.8 percent, compared to an average 91.4 percent average among developed nations. Only Italy scored lower, at 74.9 percent.

The law enforcement index examines various bodies' confidence in the judicial system. Israel earned 74.4 percent, far behind Spain (85 percent), France (88.9 percent) and the average for developed countries (90.3 percent). Holland led the pack at 95.2 percent, followed by the U.S. and Germany, both at 92.3 percent.

The regulatory index looks into whether government policy impedes free market mechanisms and if banking regulation is effective. Israel scored lowest out of the developed nations on this parameter, at 71.9 percent compared to an average 90.6 percent.

Israel posted the lowest index in political stability, at 15 percent, compared to the U.S.'s 60.7 percent, Italy's 56.3 percent or Holland, at the top of the table with 88.3 percent.

BDI reported that Israel's ranking in government quality has taken a worrisome downturn since 2000. BDI attributed the deterioration to the security situation, the economic crisis and various corruption affairs from recent years.

"Israel is considered one of the riskiest places in the Western world, with an unstable, inefficient regime, low accountability, a relatively high rate of state corruption and poor law enforcement," BDI said, based on the World Bank report. BDI economists noted that the low indices hamper foreign investment, raise risk premiums on financial markets and hurt resource allocation.