Untitled Document
Israel's regime is one of the most corrupt and least efficient in the Western
world. In fact, the only developed country considered more corrupt and less efficient
is Italy, according to data published by the World Bank.
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.
